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05/09/2008 - 6:58amBigger Boat Tours Coming to Voyageurs National ParkSabattis, Better interpretation is definitely a plus. My concern is that the system for funding the parks is out of whack. Too often it comes down to whose congressperson is more adept at earmarking legislation or calling in favors for support. Just look at how the Centennial Challenge funds are ...
05/09/2008 - 6:13amVet Removes Snare From Neck of Wolf in Denali National Park and PreserveNeil, What we aim to bar are comments that take direct personal attacks on others. We prefer to see comments rise above that level. Do we always succeed? Perhaps not as best we can. But some comments are so blatant in their personal attacks that the decision not to let ...
05/08/2008 - 6:10amBigger Boat Tours Coming to Voyageurs National ParkPerhaps this case points to a larger question across the National Park System: Just what does the National Park Service owe communities surrounding parks, and what do those communities owe those parks? As I understand it, private concessionaires have not been able financially to make a go of running tour ...
05/04/2008 - 10:10amReport Shows Visiting National Parks Could be Hazardous to Your HealthFrank and Beamis, First of all, welcome back. Now, in light of Frank's contention that the two of you were asked to stop commenting at the [i]Traveler[/i], let me set the record straight by pulling from the email I sent you both last December: [quote] I don't think there's any ...
05/01/2008 - 11:25amCongressman Calls for Full EIS of Proposal to Allow Concealed Carry in America's National ParksThat saw cuts at least two ways, Fred;-)
04/23/2008 - 12:23pmTraveler's Top 10 Picks For Movies Involving National ParksGood catch, Kraig. I always liked Mary better, anyway!
04/15/2008 - 8:18amGettysburg National Military Park: Of Cycloramas, Museums and Visitor CentersIn theory, that's what the Centennial Challenge is all about...We should get an idea of how successful that is in the not-too-distant future when Interior/NPS announces the first round of funded projects. The concern, of course, is that while there are numerous needs across the park system, how many donors ...
04/14/2008 - 5:08pmGettysburg National Military Park: Of Cycloramas, Museums and Visitor CentersThe Gettysburg VC largely was given birth by private donations, while the Blue Ridge center was the largess of former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-NC, who seemed to have his funding priorities upside down. Was a facility of that stature and expense -- nearly $10 million -- needed? At a ...
04/11/2008 - 2:24pmA Sad Sign of the Times: NPS Promotes Body Armor Options To RangersJoe, I know you're just baiting me, but since you asked.... Your first question cuts both ways. If you're law-abiding, why such an obsessive problem with abiding by or trying to overthrow the existing law? And really, more than a few "law-abiding" CCW holders already have said they broke the ...
04/08/2008 - 1:58pmA Sad Sign of the Times: NPS Promotes Body Armor Options To RangersCredence, Fred? I know you've got my back if it ever comes to that.
04/08/2008 - 1:30pmA Sad Sign of the Times: NPS Promotes Body Armor Options To RangersYou know Fred, in the long run how this issue will be resolved is out of our hands and I've just been interested, primarily, in the debate. That said, what concerns me more than a little, though, is that if the Supreme Court rules either A) that the 2nd Amendment ...
04/04/2008 - 8:11amFormer National Park Service Directors Urge Interior Secretary To Keep Guns Out of ParksRanger Tyler, how is the constitutional issue being avoided? Doesn't the Constitution provide for the establishment of laws, and isn't the current regulation a law? Just as it's reasonable to have laws that impact First Amendment rights (You can't incite a riot or yell "fire" in a theater without being ...
03/31/2008 - 4:33pmOur Endangered National ParksI'm not yet convinced that the Centennial Initiative is going to do the job that the park system needs done. For starters, Congress has yet to pass legislation to authorize the initiative. Too, the extra $100 million that President Bush authorized for the NPS budget is a drop in the ...
03/31/2008 - 3:45pmCongress Authorized Expansion of Petrified Forest National Park, But Forgot to Fund ItSabattis, good to hear from you again. NPT has missed your voice. My point, and obviously it failed to clearly make it from my brain to the page, is that Congress loves to designate NPS units, but fails to follow through by adequately funding them. In the past I have ...
03/27/2008 - 12:37pmGroup's Lawsuit Says Wolves, Not Bullets, Should Control Elk at Rocky Mountain National ParkWell, wolves have been roaming the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and central Idaho since the mid-1990s, and the Glacier NP region as well as Isle Royale NP for much longer, and I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a single incident of a wolf attacking a hiker -- or any human, ...
03/19/2008 - 12:01pmStudies Show Bear Spray More Effective Than Guns Against GrizzliesFred, true, the 1st Amendment gives us the right to speak our minds, but there are laws against slandering folks, inciting a riot, and shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Keeping that in mind, I don't think it's unreasonable, or an infringement on the 2nd Amendment, to have laws that ...
03/19/2008 - 5:37amMan Drowns During Rafting Trip Through Grand Canyon National ParkAmy, This group did launch on the 10th. The victim was 45-year-old Randall Johnson of Grand Junction, Colorado. That's all the additional information I have. Hopefully your friends are OK.
03/18/2008 - 9:11amStudies Show Bear Spray More Effective Than Guns Against GrizzliesNot about protection against bears? That's one of the issues the NRA has raised in pushing this topic, and one many previous comments have touched on. Beyond that, though, aren't we a "people of laws"? Or should we just be able to pick and choose which laws to obey based ...
03/14/2008 - 10:44amSnowmobilers Continue to Roam Illegally Into Yellowstone National ParkFeel better? I've addressed this quite a few times over the years, but let me try to lay it out for you again. There are more than 450 million acres of public lands overseen by the Forest Service and BLM, and most of that is open to multiple use, ie. ...
03/14/2008 - 7:54amBattle Mounts Over Off-Road Vehicles at Cape Hatteras National SeashoreI admire the passion and concern -- on both sides of the issue -- that's been exhibited in this forum and, to a large extent, been wielded constructively, informatively, and without malice. What's transpiring at Cape Hatteras in many ways is a microcosm of what's transpiring at many parks, seashores, ...
03/09/2008 - 3:49pmViolent Deaths in the National ParksC'mon, Fred, using those comments to project an outcome is about as scientific as Sen. Coburn's "poll" on the question of concealed carry in the parks on his web site. I think it's fairly well-known how organized the NRA and its supporters are on these issues. As soon as I ...
03/04/2008 - 2:57pmViolent Deaths in the National ParksMarie, I wouldn't say we're "thinking like guys." My wife won't go out for a run by herself because she fears for her safety, and we live in a pretty darn safe area. I understand her fears, and I can understand the fears of a single woman or even two ...
03/04/2008 - 2:05pmViolent Deaths in the National ParksFred, I hear what you're saying regarding the rapes. Still, I would be curious to know the details and locations of those crimes. How many were in the D.C. metro area? How many were in the backcountry? How many were "date rapes." How many involved women hiking alone by themselves? ...
03/03/2008 - 3:05pmOf Geologists, Paleontologists, And Science in the National Park SystemIt's been changed. Kurt
02/29/2008 - 3:56pm2007 National Park Visitation Shows 3 Million Visitor IncreaseBill, I've long been suspect of these visitation numbers. You cite an extremely good example. How many folks traveling U.S. 209 between East Stroudsburg and Port Jervis are park visitors and how many are folks on their way to or from work? Much the same can be said of the ...
02/26/2008 - 11:32amOlympic National Park Entrance Fees to Stay Unchanged Through 2009Hey Lee, I hear you. The Park Service's proposed 08 budget is over $2 billion. If you search through the "Plight of the Parks" subcategory you'll find lots of posts concerning entrance fees and the battles over them. As for seniors, the parks basically are free -- a $10 lifetime ...
02/24/2008 - 3:53pmA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchDiane, Sounds like you've got a great trip lined up! While I've hiked down into and back out of the canyon, with a stop at Phantom, I have yet to run the river. Not sure how large your CamelBak is, but obviously you want the largest you can get your ...
02/22/2008 - 5:08pmDinosaur National Monument Cutting Paleontology StaffIt's certainly good to see such concern for Dinosaur National Monument. I have indeed been doing some follow-up to the previous articles on this matter. As they say, there are two sides to every story. Sometimes three or four. With that said, rather than bashing folks for their views, if ...
02/19/2008 - 2:04pmDinosaur National Monument Cutting Paleontology StaffOuch. Shoot the messenger why don't you? The fact of the matter is that in the monument's past there have been efforts to see it renamed Dinosaur National Park, so that was an accurate statement. Would such a change have an overall impact on management of Dinosaur? Maybe, maybe not. ...
02/19/2008 - 8:00amBison Slaughter In Yellowstone National Park Draws Protest Against Park ServiceAnon, Methinks you got a bad cup of coffee this morning. As the subdeck under the [i]Traveler[/i] logo stats, the site is open to news AND commentary and life in the parks. Frankly, the initial post on Sunday was pretty straightforward and not an advocacy piece by any stretch. It ...
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