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10/13/2009 - 5:35pmIs It "Elitist" To Try to Visit All 58 National Parks?I've been to 191 units (29 NP's by my rough count) and my 13-year-old son has seen 113 units. Every site is important to me. We've made it a part of our kids' homeschooling. Horseback riding in Teddy Roosevelt NP. Digging for fossils near Fossil Butte. Next year, now that ...
09/27/2008 - 8:36pmFloods Washing Across Big Bend National ParkOnce again, mother nature wins. Yet, we'll continue to rebuild and sandbag and rebuild again. We're like little ants with littler brains. Looking forward to visiting Galveston Island National Memorial and Seashore someday too.
09/27/2008 - 8:26pmBackcountry Volunteer Survives 100 Foot Fall While Canyoneering at Zion National ParkI'm curious as to what other canyoneering experiences anywhere else in the western hemisphere are comparable (or better) than Utah. Strange you chose to single out the "lower 48" but didn't expand that further. If it's a secret, I'll understand. For a long time I didn't tell many (if any) ...
09/27/2008 - 8:20pmAt Statue of Liberty National Monument, Save Ellis Island, Inc., Works to Restore Ellis Island’s Time-Ravaged BuildingsI think the key to these sorts of renovations succeeding is when the final product is actually put to good use, rather than having a giant shell of a building that people come to simply gawk at. And the use of the building(s) should be a good fit with the ...
09/27/2008 - 8:08pmGrand Canyon Railway May Expand Rail Service to the South Rim at Grand Canyon National ParkWe did this trip a few years ago with the kids in the month of March... the kids loved it, and you definitely don't need a vehicle once you get to the South Rim. When I worked at Grand Canyon there were trees growing up through the rotting RR ties. ...
09/26/2008 - 5:43pmA Section of the Appalachian Trail Designed for Wheelchair Access Opens in VermontIt's not an anti-disabled perspective that I'm attempting (albeit poorly) to express, it's a "stop trying to improve nature and stop spending money on something we'll just have to spend more maintenance money on later" perspective. Believe me, when I see people parking in handicap spots that have no right ...
09/20/2008 - 9:50amA Section of the Appalachian Trail Designed for Wheelchair Access Opens in VermontMy point is that there are plenty of other places where you can build a boardwalk in the woods for people to enjoy. A bridge over or a tunnel under a major highway so hikers don't get run over -- sure... but heaven forbid if someone had to walk in ...
09/18/2008 - 8:42pmFederal Judge Blocks Recreational Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National ParkThey do make perfectly quiet snow transportation with zero pollution. It's called cross country skiing.
09/18/2008 - 8:37pmA Section of the Appalachian Trail Designed for Wheelchair Access Opens in VermontSo much for getting away from it all. Next they'll install people-movers so you don't really need to hike the trail. Walk left, stand right folks.
09/18/2008 - 8:34pmTrigger-happy Man Shoots Another Rustling in the BrushI can see that most of you haven't camped at the various National Recreation Areas. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are staples there. The "issues" at Chickasaw are legendary.
09/14/2008 - 9:58pmPrime Location and Varied Habitat Help Make Point Reyes National Seashore a Biodiversity Treasure TroveNow if they could only keep the pot-growers out of Point Reyes...
09/14/2008 - 9:55pmAttendance Shortfalls at Steamtown National Historic Site Prompt Calls for PrivatizationHey, you're looking at a new Vice President who was born in Scranton -- so don't expect that Steamtown will wither on the vine and die. Eight more years to get its act together...
08/18/2008 - 3:34pmDelaware Can Relax; The New National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Series Will Celebrate “National Sites” TooThis is great -- my kids love the 50 states quarter series. However, if they use National Parks and Monuments on the quarter, they should be required to use (or at least include) the original Native American name (ex: Devils Tower = Bear Lodge). Or Nebraska's monumental claim to fame... ...
08/17/2008 - 10:03pmShould the National Park Service Drain the Capitol Reflecting Pool to Save Birds?Take a walk around the pool sometime and try not stepping in goose guano. It's a sickening experience. I walked with my daughter to tell her about the MLK speech and she asked if it was this stinky back then too. Come to think of it, Forrest Gump's eventual wife ...
08/17/2008 - 9:45pmDecisions on Controlling Elk in Theodore Roosevelt, Wind Cave National Parks Likely to Linger Into 2009Someday we'll finally realize that the introduction of more carnivores into the ecosystem is the only long-term answer that will work. Yes, Fluffy and Mr. Ed are part of the food chain too.
08/17/2008 - 9:38pmFort Donelson National Battlefield Commemorates the North’s First Major Victory in the Civil WarDonelson also has a beautiful bald eagle pair that nests very near the fortification area on the water. A nice eagle foto I snapped last Spring, perhaps 50 feet from the Hal Jesperson foto above, is currently on my blog's header image (http://homeschoolrangers.wordpress.com/).
08/17/2008 - 9:09pmRemnants of Golf Course Being Removed from Rocky Mountain National ParkHip Hip Hooray. Now take out Yosemite's pathetic 9-hole course too!
08/17/2008 - 9:05pmIs It Time to Overhaul the National Park Service and the National Park System?Glad some of you are finally agreeing with me. From a post I made back on August 5th, 2007 (Setting Precedents in the Parks): Having the NPS pendulum sway back and forth from left to right, from administration to administration, is more of a problem than ANY of the superlatives ...
06/27/2008 - 8:29pmNational Park System Quiz 8: FirstsThey have all those funny designations so they can justify hunting, harvesting, drilling, and mining in many of them. What bugs me is "Historical Park" as opposed to "Historic Site".
06/27/2008 - 8:08pmPark Advocates Rallying Around Theodore Roosevelt National ParkI'd have to agree with you Barky... probably my favorite too. I rode my bike around the loop road within the park and have never seen so much wildlife (in numbers and variety) in my 45 years. Going back in early August this summer and bringing along my son this ...
06/27/2008 - 8:02pmYellowstone National Park Bison Unhappy With Photo Shoot Tosses Pennsylvania BoyThe moron parade through our treasured National Parks continues. These parents should be put on a month of volunteer duty, wearing a sandwich board and walking up and down the park roads warning of the dangers of getting too close to wildlife (and the dangers of bad parenting). Wasn't there ...
03/28/2008 - 10:16pmWhatever Became of the Decommissioned National Parks?Who the heck is "Claire Burtons"? If you mean Clara Barton and somehow think that her life and story aren't worthy of a central place from which to tell it, you are sadly mistaken. Now Glen Echo Park -- that's certainly a big question mark...
02/20/2008 - 5:08pmGrand Canyon National Park Officials Release Transportation Plan EA"Along with the proposed parking plan, the preferred alternative calls for improvements to Mather Point to open up some of the vistas that have been obscured by vegetation, to make trails more accessible, and provide more interpretive exhibits at the information plaza." ...obscured by vegetation...? So now we're clearing all ...
02/20/2008 - 4:45pmDinosaur National Monument Superintendent Favors Law Enforcement, Maintenance, Interpretation Over PaleontologyThis is nutso -- now we potentially have the influence of a young-earth-believing state government in charge of a national paleo resource? Just what we need... local "control" of what the public sees, doesn't see, and is told about the resources of Dinosaur National Monument. Why don't we just move ...
01/26/2008 - 11:46pmWhy Did The Park Service Agree To Secret Meetings Over Yellowstone Snowmobiling?Kurt, I was just gonna say what the article said in the last sentence, so rather than repeat it.... Well said!
01/26/2008 - 11:42pmAnother Snake Story from Everglades National ParkSnakes? Why'd it have to be snakes? Southern Florida is an ecological mess. There are so many people releasing non-native "things" into the 'glades, canals, swimming pools, and coastal waters. There are thousands of stories like this just waiting to be reported and while entertaining on one level, it's also ...
01/11/2008 - 9:20pmTar Sands Development Could Impact Canyonlands National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Glen Canyon NRAThe first sign to look for is a bill in Congress to change the name of the park to Canyonlands National Park & Preserve. And they'll try to pass it off as this wonderful thing to [b]expand the park's boundaries [/b]and help citizens [b]take full advantage [/b]of the many splendors ...
01/11/2008 - 9:14pmNPS Retirees Oppose Carrying Guns in National ParksYou have the right to protect your homes armed to the teeth. So stay at home where it's safe. Anyone can decide to cross that double yellow line at anytime and take out your entire family packed into the station wagon -- so do we need anti-SUV devices to protect ...
01/10/2008 - 4:03pmDo Professional Hockey And Yosemite National Park Belong Together?Mook -- I tried roller skates at the local roller rink once -- it didn't go over too well. That being said, the two previous Blue Hens before me always wore roller skates and skated around the parking lot before football games.
01/09/2008 - 10:25pmDo Cougars Roam Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore?I've seen cougar footprints in the Everglades in '86 and the north unit of Teddy Roosevelt NP in '99 -- and that was exciting enough! As an aside -- we had a strange unidentified creature caught on film in Baltimore a few years back -- it was dubbed the "Hyote". ...
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