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11/02/2008 - 8:32amLame Duck Bush Administration Hastens to Weaken Environmental Protection LawsBob, Apparently Kurt's hoarding all those tax subsidies NPT gets and not telling you about them! I was going to call you out on the 1928 trivia until it occurred to me that Nixon was on the Eisenhower tickets. Nice stat.
10/16/2008 - 9:27pmSurvey Predicts Change in National Park Gun Regulations Will Lead to Wildlife Shootings, Management ProblemsWho's trying to change the Constitution or the Second Amendment? Are we talking about the amendment that states: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms,[i] including carrying them anywhere they please with total disregard for others' opinions[/i], shall not be infringed..." ? I'm a proud gun-owner, but ...
09/23/2008 - 9:06amMusings From Yellowstone National ParkI'll go out on a limb and propose that non-white people (as opposed to the "white" people Kurt speaks of) don't have a cultural interest in conservation or nature like many segments of the white community do. Maybe this is an artifact of the way minorities have gravitated to urban ...
09/18/2008 - 4:28pmTrigger-happy Man Shoots Another Rustling in the Brush[quote]I have, however, seen the villainous types that you describe[/quote] Indeed, I exaggerated for the purpose of using a quote from [i]Star Wars[/i]. I also think I have less tolerance for general rowdiness than the average person. Further, I can definitely draw a map with contour lines representing camping civility. ...
09/18/2008 - 11:47amTrigger-happy Man Shoots Another Rustling in the BrushNot all campgrounds are created equal. I've stayed at a lot of campgrounds and I've found the vast majority of those inside the parks to be pretty quiet and civilized. On the other hand, I can only describe a significant percentage of grounds outside the parks as wretched hives of ...
09/18/2008 - 11:39amTrigger-happy Man Shoots Another Rustling in the BrushKurt, you're going to take a lot of heat here for this one! I really don't see this being very apropos to the guns-in-parks debate, but I'll let the masses decide that. What this does reinforce for me, is how dangerous alcohol is. Guns, rattlesnakes, bison, vehicles, and cliffs aren't ...
09/16/2008 - 3:31pmFederal Judge Blocks Recreational Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park[quote]Life sucks and is unfair. Get over it. [/quote] Well, Frank, I guess that's kinda, sorta what I was saying too. :-) But, expressing it like that usually doesn't endear one to your opinion. Quite the opposite, actually. Like I was saying, we all play different parts in these discussions. ...
09/16/2008 - 3:21pmFederal Judge Blocks Recreational Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park[quote]I have both a two year old son and a 73-year old father. I simply cannot ask them to make the same treks that I am capable of. Does that mean that they should be excluded from viewing our national treasures simply because of the limitations placed upon them due ...
09/16/2008 - 1:57pmFederal Judge Blocks Recreational Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park[quote]Among the problems bedeviling environmentalism, eco-terrorism easily strikes me as the most discrediting. [/quote] I couldn't agree more, Ted. While I find merit in some of the ends Abbeyism seeks, the means do a grave disservice to the cause. My point in invoking Abbey here is that Anonymous' post was ...
09/16/2008 - 12:10pmFederal Judge Blocks Recreational Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park[quote]No vehicles should be allowed in any national park. Park all them RVs and cars at the entrance and walk in! You wanna see Old Faithful? Hop on a mule.[/quote] [quote]You're joking. On multiple levels. One certainly hopes. [/quote] Ed Abbey's dead, so someone has to play that part. While ...
09/06/2008 - 7:25amYellowstone National Park Reporting Bullish Visitation[quote]we were simply shocked last week by the huge, huge numbers of SUVs driving through Yellowstone, presumably a great number being rental cars.[/quote] Same experience for us when we visited in early August. That's one of the reasons I can't get myself to accept the gas-price theories of visitation decline. ...
09/02/2008 - 10:07amHave High Gas Prices Deterred Travel within Theodore Roosevelt National Park?I don't buy the fuel cost scenario. Roosevelt may be right on an Interstate (literally), but it's a long drive from anywhere and not even all that easy to fly into. If someone has driven there, they aren't going to blink at driving another 75 minutes to the North Unit, ...
09/01/2008 - 9:35pmPaying To Understand U.S. History in the National Park SystemTwo words: Corporate Sponsorship. Anyone been to a sports stadium lately? Who wouldn't want to visit the "Frito Lay National Military Park at Gettysburg"? Or perhaps "General Motors National Park"? (It's in Maine. The tallest mountain there is already named for a GM brand.) -Kirby.....Lansing, MI
08/28/2008 - 5:42pm**** Viewing National Parks Traveler on Firefox 3.0****You've made the juice too accessible by the backdoor! I usually follow a link directly to an article from my Yahoo module. While that article is up, the Visitor Center and Recent Comments appear on the right. That's all I need. Now, if you hide those frames, I'll be forced ...
08/28/2008 - 2:58pmFlooding Nurtures Life in Congaree National ParkI might add that the Harry Hampton Visitor Center is among the best in the NPS. Everything from it's setting (almost invisible from 100 feet away!) to the educational dioramas and mounts to the most energetic rangers I've ever met made that VC a memorable one for me. Badlands may ...
08/28/2008 - 2:40pm**** Viewing National Parks Traveler on Firefox 3.0****I'm guessing it's this: On the front page, under the Photo of the Week, there is a Latest News headline. It's all blank space under that until the bottom where the latest news actually shows up. Not really a big deal. I never go to the front page, so I ...
08/28/2008 - 9:06amFlooding Nurtures Life in Congaree National ParkYeah, you were within shouting distance as you came down 127. You're just teasing me now. I really want to see Congaree in flood, or at least damp. We were there in April of last year and it was pretty dry. We had to portage a few spots on Cedar ...
08/28/2008 - 8:14amFlooding Nurtures Life in Congaree National ParkStop it, Bob! You're making me want to look for plane tickets to Columbia. My wife will wonder where I went when she gets home from school. -Kirby.....Lansing, MI
08/27/2008 - 8:25amThe Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep TroubleTo me, this isn't about whether Frank can get to his solitude now, but whether his children or grandchildren will have that option. It's a fact that a majority (vast majority, in many cases) of the land in each park is wild, kidless, and free of anthropocentric sound. Take Ted's ...
08/26/2008 - 1:05pmThe Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep TroubleAllow me to lighten the mood with a "dumb foreigner" story.... My wife and I passed through Yellowstone while driving from Washington back to Michigan this month. It was a Saturday in August and I knew it would be hell on the loop roads, but my wife had never seen ...
08/26/2008 - 12:52pmThe Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep TroubleAnon said: [quote]in my experience, anything labeled a national park on a map is something that receives heavy visitation anyway, so you wilderness folks can get over yourselves when dismissing the crowds who really need to visit them.[/quote] You might notice that large portions of many of the national parks ...
08/25/2008 - 1:46amAnother Look at Those GPS Rangers in the National ParksI have trouble seeing anything negative about this. I just got back from an extended trip through Olympic, Theodroe Roosevelt, Badlands, and Yellowstone National Parks. I saw a lot of the old-school interpretation you speak of, Kurt. And I hate to say this, but old school isn't always the best ...
08/25/2008 - 1:17amThe Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep TroubleTed, I can empathize with your frustration with the environmentalist movement. I cringe at the public actions of environmental groups that only serve as fodder for the "environmentalist wackos" commentaries on Rush Limbaugh's show. No one's going to make an environmentalist of Limbaugh, but a lot of mainstream America is ...
08/24/2008 - 10:35pmThe Economist Warns that America’s National Park System is in Deep, Deep Trouble[quote]Actually, though, entertainment is a normal, healthy human behavior. Our propensity for and capability to create settings for entertainment and the social & psychological rewards it brings, is one of the more attractive things about humans.[/quote] Ted, I'm sure you appreciate that there are many definitions of "entertainment", and that ...
07/31/2008 - 9:47pmWould a Change in Gun Laws Be a Threat to National Park Bears?[quote]Animals can and do injury and kill people. Humans can and do injury and kill other humans.[/quote] Very true. [quote]No one has the right to deny citizens of their right to defend themselves, be it from beast or man.[/quote] Also true enough. Which is why, to the best of my ...
07/30/2008 - 1:18pmNational Park System Quiz 13: Mountains...with Virginia's Mt. Rogers in an NRA. You're right about the high points. I wouldn't expect a slight rise in western Kansas or a little bump in Florida to be a national park. I just would have thought states like MT, ID, CO, AZ, NM, SD, OR, NV, UT, etc. ...
07/30/2008 - 5:50amNational Park System Quiz 13: MountainsThe question about Mt. Whitney's western slope being in a park got me thinking about how many actual state high points are within national parks. Seems like a surprisingly low number. I count six, with five in national parks and one in a national recreation area. Anyone want to see ...
07/30/2008 - 5:08amNational Park System Quiz 13: MountainsFinally, I get to rest on my laurels - 9 of 10 (but missed both bonuses). I was about to enroll in GEOG 370 after the last several quizzes.
07/21/2008 - 8:00pmWhy Stop At Golden Gate National Recreation Area? What Other NRAs, Monuments, Etc., Should Be Renamed?This is quite the education. [quote]with national parks exemplifying, protecting and celebrating the rarity or uniqueness of a diverse landscape, ecosystem (or ecosystems) or historical resource. Monuments should protect a single resource as designated by the president under the Aniquties Act. The current restrictive guidelines for national parks should remain, ...
07/21/2008 - 9:36amNational Park Service Struggles to Restore and Protect Historic Sightlines at Manassas National Battlefield ParkQuite the dilemma. As a nature-lover and ecologist, my NPS traveling is largely limited to the nature-centric parks. Those parks preserve the nature of a place, unsullied by human hands. On the other hand, it seems to me a battlefield park is in place to preserve a landscape that was ...