| Page 1460 | National Parks Traveler

Such a nonsensical argument. About we ban all hiking and make biking mandatory? How would you feel about it? Bottom line, the government should not be deciding what activity is best for us as long as said activity does not impact negatively the parks. And just because you enjoy the trails on foot does not mean that I have to.

Oct 21st - 11:31am | Anonymous

A point that seems to be missed by the mountain biking community is that no one is banned from hiking trails, only their bikes are. They can still enjoy the trails on foot, just like the rest of us.

Oct 21st - 09:53am | D Smith

During the outdoor boom of the 1970’s many areas suffered severe damage due to the increased number of hikers. Hikers built illegal trails and camp sites, widened trails, littered, and ruined the outdoor experience for those who had come before; in short we did everything we accuse Mountain Bikers of doing now. Fortunately, Hikers learned the error of their ways.

Oct 20th - 22:02pm | Zebulon

NPCA is overreaching in its conclusion. There is a strong desire by mountain bikers to bike in national parks, so the need is there. The public process/environmental review is code word for: "let's throw a bunch of nonsensical redtape into opening any trails to mountain biking so that we don't have to come out and say out loud that we hate bikes".

Oct 20th - 09:10am | Bryan Faehner

Although we haven't yet seen the proposed rule change from the Park Service, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) believes that the current mountain biking regulations appear to be working well and that there is no demonstrated need to change them.

Oct 20th - 08:24am | Anonymous

I have worked at park where the vast majority of our trails were multi-use. Generally, we didn't have problems with biker/hiker conflicts. Most of our problems came out of horse/hiker conflicts that arose from horses being on hiking-only trails and spurs.

Oct 20th - 07:45am | Mark E

To respond to the first poster, please note that mountain bikes have only recently been reintroduced to most Boulder trails -- thanks to the good work done by the Boulder MountainBike Alliance (BMA) -- and are still banned from many of Boulder's most popular trails.

Oct 20th - 00:43am | Anonymous

Yeah you are so right! Hiking is such a better activity that we should discriminate against all other users, horses included. Give me a break! The image you create in your post above is so incorrect and based solely in Sierra Club religious dogma its sickening.

Oct 19th - 17:51pm | Anonymous

Mountain bikes in national parks are totally inappropriate, other than on carriage roads and other wide and heavily used areas. If you want to see the environmental damage caused by large numbers of mountain bikes, simply go to Boulder, CO, where IMBAs headquarters are. Miles and miles of trails there are heavily eroded, extensively widened, muddied, and otherwise destroyed by mountain bikes.

The Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Invites You to Climb, Run, Jump, Slide, Roll, Whoop, and Holler

Oct 22nd - 09:32am | Bob Janiskee

I agree that Sleeping Bear is a wonderful place for hiking, Anon, especially on a hot summer day when cool breezes are blowing in off Lake Michigan. Gotta say a couple of things about that, though. Walking in loose sand can be a penance, especially in steeper areas. And the wind at the top of the dune scarp ("cliff") is sometimes strong enough to whip sand into your eyes.

Oct 21st - 11:33am | Anonymous

Don't forget to continue on after the top of the hill. Continue for two miles through low hills of loose sand out to Lake Michigan. By the time you get back, you have had a great workout. Done properly, it is a lot of fun.

Pruning the Parks: Mar-a-Lago National Historic Site (1972-1980) Was a Gift the National Park Service Couldn’t Afford to Keep

Oct 22nd - 08:57am | Bob Janiskee

Well, Anne, you've asked some good questions, but I'm afraid I can't answer any of them to your satisfaction without doing a lot more research. I'm willing to delve more deeply into the Mar-a-Lago story (right after I get back from Alaska, that is), but perhaps there's somebody out there in Travelerland who already has the inside scoop. Can anybody out there answer Anne's questions?

Oct 21st - 17:55pm | Bugsyshallfall

What's funny is that this may have not been a bad thing as it is still a NHL with easements granted to the National Trust for Historic Preservations. It is one the only sites of its knid still left and is in great shape.

Oct 21st - 14:56pm | amwdew

Bob, Wow, what a story. Who had the idea of giving this to NPS in the first place, and were there objections to this at the time? Were there tours, etc., during the 8 years that NPS had it? It would be fun to see the brochures and interpretive materials, if any still exist. Thanks for digging up this fascinating episode! Cheers, Anne

Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Begins

Oct 22nd - 08:07am | dapster

Fascinating article! One can just imagine the obstacles that construction of 469 miles of highway along moutain ridges through several states would meet. Thanks for bringing that facet of this marvelous highway to light!

Oct 20th - 14:49pm | amwdew

Thanks, Bob! As you no doubt know, sometimes people just prefer the romantic old stories, though. Keep up your good work, too! Cheers, Anne Anne Mitchell Whisnant, Ph.D. Historian & Author of Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History Chapel Hill, NC

Oct 20th - 12:14pm | Bob Janiskee

Great article, Anne! Deep history beats shallow history every time. It's a pleasure to get the word from someone who really knows what she's talking about.

Photo Shoot: Today's Cameras Make It Easier to Capture the National Parks

Oct 21st - 13:31pm | JimB

I define luck as preparation meeting opportunity. That's a great definition, and one that anyone who attempts much outdoor photography can appreciate!

Oct 21st - 10:46am | morgan34

I can't believe this is real... yeah, I guess you are right, with new digital cameras we can all be great photographers, there isn't much to know in making pictures, it all depends on your will to spot unique wonderful places like this one above.

Landscape Painting Donated to Grand Teton National Park

Oct 20th - 23:04pm | John Holmen

Kurt, Thanks for writing this article. I stumbled across it looking for Harrison Crandall and was astonished to see a picture very similar to one we have in our living room with seasonal differences and a broken tree stump. Please pass this on to Quita if you have contact information for her.

Interior Officials Planning To Make It Easier for Mountain Bikers to Gain Backcountry Access in Parks

Oct 20th - 22:11pm | Zebulon

It's hard to argue the selfishness of mountain bikers, when you figure out that we're the ones being kicked out of thousand of square miles of land for no rational reason. The whole "different experience" concept is a smoke screen.

Oct 20th - 17:17pm | Kurt Repanshek

Re the NRA mention, IMBA posted the article, The Fight for Trails -- What IMBA Can Learn from the NRA, on its website without disclaimer and without disowning it, after deliberately seeking permission to do so. What are folks supposed to think when they land on that page, that IMBA opposes the NRA's deft form of lobbying, or that it's intrigued by it?

Oct 20th - 14:17pm | rick s

Yes Kurt your piece is indeed disingenuous. Comparing IMBA to the NRA is designed to be inflammatory. When checking the link one finds that IMBA was merely pointing out how to become an effective lobbying organization. By definition a lobbying organization tries to get rules passed, or voided, in order to benefit their constituency.

Oct 20th - 01:49am | Dave

Kurt, Thanks for the response. I stand corrected on the compensation issue. I'm new to this site, and assumed from its apprearance you were a paid staffer. I note from the profile linked to your photo that you do have more than a little professional journalism experience, so my assumption based on website appearance and the quality of your writing doesn't seem like a great leap.

Oct 18th - 15:26pm | Zebulon

Let's be clear: wilderness should be open to bikes as Congress contemplated it when it passed the act over 40 years ago (look it up... it's in the notes). Bikes are no more mechanized than carbon fiber hiking poles and do less damage than horses. The number of visitors to the parks is dwindling every year.

Oct 18th - 10:47am | Kurt Repanshek

Dave, unlike IMBA's track record on this issue, in which, once they got their feet in the door, they slowly expanded what they really seem to want from the National Park Service, I think the Traveler's position has been clear from the get-go, as I previously noted. That said, as to your concerns:

Oct 18th - 09:39am | Bob Janiskee

You are quite correct, d-2. Dave's remark is way out of line. Everyone who writes for Traveler is an unpaid volunteer. Kurt also has significant out-of-pocket expenses that aren't reimbursed.

Oct 18th - 09:26am | d-2

Dave, I don't think it is correct to say Kurt gets paid. My understanding is this is a webside serviced by volunteers. To be fair.

Oct 17th - 20:47pm | Dave

Kurt, I find it disappointing that you don't respond to any of the substantive criticisms from the posts above mine, nor the points I made, but chose to respond by going off on my use of the word disingenuous. I don't expect to change your point of view, but I hope you'll hear me out, and then maybe respond thoughtfully to my comments and those that preceded mine.

Oct 17th - 20:36pm | zebulon

The opponents to opening trails to mountain bikers never talk about their real motivation: selfishness. They just don't want to share the trails with other users. The arguments about safety, erosion, sense of belonging, and whatever else one comes up with is utter nonsense. The real motivation here is that established users just don't want to share their recreational areas with others.

Survey Predicts Change in National Park Gun Regulations Will Lead to Wildlife Shootings, Management Problems

Oct 20th - 22:08pm | JimB

Frank -

Oct 20th - 11:46am | JimB

One key point in this issue needs to be emphasized – the effect of the proposed rule on agency efforts to deal with poaching.

Oct 19th - 21:50pm | JimB

...anyone who has a concealed carry permit has ... had the proper training to carry a concealed handgun. I'd feel a lot better about this issue if that were true. Unfortunately, it is not correct.

Oct 19th - 20:57pm | Rick Smith

This will be my last comment on this thread because I think we have explored all the angles. There are people who feel that they cannot be safe without carrying. Fine. All I say is that the parks are safer without a lot of guns than with lots of them. That's what the majority of protection rangers say and I think we should pay some attention to their point of view. Rick Smith

Oct 19th - 19:13pm | former ohio pol...

As a former Ohio police officer and deputy sheriff, I find some of the comments about concealed carry in our national parks very offensive. First of all anyone who has a concealed carry permit has undergone an extensive background investigation. These people are responsible ones and have had the proper training to carry a concealed handgun.

Oct 19th - 13:58pm | dtroutma

I WAS a law enforcement officer and Ranger. I also spent 23 years at BLM, documenting HUNDREDS of cases of TOO (Target OF Opportunity) damage to public lands outside National Parks. The issue is NOT just licensed and concealed, but LOADED weapons in the parks and refuges, with free access, outside legitimate hunting areas and seasons.

Oct 18th - 22:32pm | JimB

As a follow-up to Rick Smith's accurate observation, and as requested by several posters, here's some additional perspective from the standpoint of someone who performed law enforcement in parks for 3 decades:

Oct 18th - 14:23pm | Rick Smith

Frank C-- I am not providing a study, only speaking from personal experience. Every time I visit a USFS area in NM to camp or hike, I see signs that are shot up. I have seen similar shot up signs on BLM and USFS lands in other states. One sees little of this kind of thing in the weapons-free national parks. I think there is a relationship.

How to Hijack a National Park

Oct 20th - 21:16pm | JimB

Thanks for the comments!

Oct 20th - 17:22pm | PM

I was at JNEM this past August. I really enjoyed the time I spent there. I thought the Museum at the base of the Arch was very good. Unfortunately I did not have much time to spend at the Old Courthouse since I needed to drive back to Chicago. This park is very different then the other 50+ parks I have visited this year. I liked the history about Lewis & Clark.

How Will the Next Administration Deal With the Environment?

Oct 20th - 17:59pm | Anonymous

I put no confidence in the McCain & Palin ticket to upgrade and enhance our National Parks to the stellar quality that the National Parks Conservation Association advocate.

Oct 20th - 14:53pm | Bugsyshallfall

It should be Investing in park helped the economy before.

Should Anything Be Done With Angel's Landing?

Oct 20th - 13:25pm | Ghost1

This was my second time hiking to Angels Landing with my 9yoa son. I did it when wife was pregnant and waiting down at the parking lot. I ran it when I was 30yoa. I wanted my son to enjoy the experience. He loved it and wanted to do it again. We found it to be more scary by the web-postings than in reality. You need to take your time and concentrate.

Mission

Oct 20th - 02:54am | JetPunk

Great site. I bought a national parks pass last year and visited several, so stumbling upon your site brings back memories. I still haven't visited Yellowstone yet.

Sky-High Ginseng Prices Boost Illegal Harvest in Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Oct 19th - 19:47pm | Anonymous

dont know of anyone growing it in this area but i hear that some have..i do harvest some blood root and wild yam,and wish ginseng was bringing 900 or better a pound as of 10/19 /08 try about 265 dollars a pound lot of work for that kind of money

Woman Dies in Fall From Angel's Landing

Oct 18th - 21:49pm | liz

I went from Zion today. I thout it would be cool to hike up Angels Landing. But, on the bus they taked about the trail, and now I never want to go on angel landing hike. I have very good balance but i'm clumsy i have been ever sence I was little. Hearing about all the people who died did not make me more scared, It made me sad but they knew the risk.

"Talking" Buoys Deployed Along Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

Oct 17th - 21:40pm | Sabattis

Given the unique nature of the trail, it seems like this buoy project is a form of "cell phone interpretation" that most Park advocates can all agree on. It looks like an innovative approach to tell this important story in a very unique sort of Park...

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