An intangible but priceless value of parks is the opportunity they provide for healing of mind, body and spirit. A recent example occurred at Dinosaur National Monument when the Wounded Warrior Project led a group of wounded veterans on a rafting trip through Lodore Canyon.
A review of how the U.S. Bureau of Land Management handled energy leases near national parks in Utah shows some areas where the system broke down and carries recommendations for, at a minimum, review of previous leasing decisions. Some tracts, the report said, should be removed from leasing.
A longstanding problem for fisheries in the Upper Colorado River Basin is the competing demands for water. It's needed for irrigation, it's needed to generate power, and it's needed, not surprisingly, to sustain fisheries. With drought a frequent visitor to the states of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, how that huge watershed is cooperatively managed is critical for all these demands.
Designs for a new visitor center as well as an "exhibit hall" that would both protect and display a cliffside studded with fossils have been released by Dinosaur National Monument officials, who now must find companies that can build the two facilities.
In a remote canyon in Dinosaur National Monument, paleontologists found hundreds of tiny fossil footprints left by primitive mammals that lived 190 million years ago when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Sure, the most iconic river in all the land is the Colorado that flows through Grand Canyon National Park. But that doesn't mean you can't find quality river trips elsewhere in the National Park System.
Are many months as fickle as April? Bogged down in gooey mud that once had been the campground at Deer Lodge in Dinosaur National Monument while grilling brauts over an open fire in the rain didn't seem to portend a good river trip. At least it wasn't snowing. No, that would come the next night.
How comfortable have we become with national park settings? With the big sweep of granite that frames the Yosemite Valley, with Old Faithful's not-quite-so-faithful demonstrations of steam and hot water, with the fall's colorful deciduous forests of Great Smoky and Shenandoah?
In a field that often employs paint brushes and dental picks to unlock fossils from their encasing rock, you'd think explosives would be the last tool paleontologists at Dinosaur National Monument would reach for. But, actually, it can come in quite handy when you have hundreds of tons of overburden to remove.
Should search-and-rescue subjects be billed for the cost of their rescue? It's long been a thorny issue, one that organizations that respond to SARs long have opposed.
So, what'd you think of SPOT's test run through the backcountry of Dinosaur National Monument? Overall, it seemed to perform well, but I have a couple of suggestions for the designers.
A snowbound couple were rescued from a fire tower in Dinosaur National Monument last weekend in an incident that highlights some of the challenges faced by the folks who do search and rescue work.
Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek’s Dinosaur National Monument rafting excursion has taken him to the Utah side of the park and to Jones Hole on the Green River. What a great place for hiking, photography, and trout fishing. Check it out.
After spending Tuesday ashore, presumably hiking, Kurt Repanshek headed down the Yampa River again Wednesday and ensconced himself at a new campsite for the night. SPOT has marked the spot in scenic Dinosaur National Monument, and the Terrain topographic map reveals that it's a dramatic place.
Kurt’s Yampa River rafting trip encounters a one-day delay due to bad weather. Kurt's SPOT gizmo is still reporting his location. The satellite imagery is way cool. Check it out.
Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek is still on the Yampa, and thanks to his SPOT GPS gizmo, we know he’s still OK and making his overnight camps as planned. He says he wishes we were there with him, but we suspect he's fibbing.
Somewhat small in stature at just about 250 miles in length, the Yampa River that flows through Dinosaur National Monument is significant not just for its white-water rapids but for its unbridled flows. Not a single dam stands in the way of this river famous with rafters and the lifeblood for four species of endangered fish.
Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek's paddling excursion on the Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument is underway. Using his SPOT GPS gizmo, Kurt has reported the location of his Sunday night camp and let us all know he's OK.
Where do you draw the line when it comes to electronics in the backcountry of the National Park System? Does use of it reflect self-doubt about your abilities, or a savviness in putting the latest technology to work for you?
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, in a move that repudiates the Bush administration's energy policies, on Wednesday scuttled a series of controversial oil and gas leases near national parks in Utah.
Some tweaks to a proposed oil and gas lease auction in Utah could spare some potential impacts to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Dinosaur National Monument, but conservationists say the National Park Service still dropped the ball.
There's an economic report out touting the benefits that a Mount St. Helens "National Park" would bring surrounding communities. And that begs the question of whether units of the National Park System should be viewed largely as economic engines?
How much is too much? When the oil and gas industry in Utah has nearly 3,500 drilling permits in hand, but which have not been acted upon, why is the Bush administration selling them more, particularly in sensitive areas around national parks and monuments?
If you want to enjoy some of those iconic views from places like Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, you might want to plan your trip sooner rather than later. While most Americans and their elected officials have been mesmerized by the economic crisis and the upcoming election, enormous changes in the management of public lands in Utah are afoot. The effects on a number of national parks could be substantial.
If it were designated part of the National Park System today, what would we call Dinosaur National Monument? True, it offers a treasure trove of fossilized dinosaur remains, one that continues to be studied. But there's also the riverine component, mountains, and high desert that all offer outstanding experiences befitting a national park setting.
When folks think about paddling trips in the National Park System, quite often floating the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park rises to the top of the mind. But there are other paddling treks out there, trips that are just as beautiful and inspiring and which just might offer a tad more solitude.
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