Interview with Senator Craig Thomas

Among the politicians who have direct influence on the National Parks is Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming. Thomas is the chair of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks. He was in Yellowstone to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the NPS, and apparently had time to sit down with a local reporter and give a 50 minute interview which is recorded as an MP3. Have a listen. The audio is hosted in the podcast section of YellowstonePark.com. The interview is titled "U.S. Senator Craig Thomas Talks About Future of National Parks" [mp3].

I didn't keep a log of the audio file, so I can't point you to specific sections of interest within the recording. But, I can tell you that he talks quite a bit about the parks, and specifically about Yellowstone. I was interested to learn that Thomas grew up just a few short miles from an entrance to Yellowstone, and has very strong memories of traveling through the park as a kid. Thomas mentions multiple times through the interview that he does not want to see a visit to the National Parks converted to an amusement park experience. I must agree with Thomas, that would indeed be a bad idea.