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Is It Time to Overhaul the National Park Service and the National Park System?

Aug 20th - 16:28pm | Michael Kellett

Beamis, Thanks for the discussion. This is an interesting essay. The Ben Franklin quotation is typically multi-layered in meaning, of course. But anyone involved in the American Revolution had to be a level-headed optimist down deep, no matter how much he protests. And the writer of the essay sounds the same way, speaking favorably about Camus but then saying:

Aug 20th - 12:33pm | FrankC

Thanks for sharing, Beamis! I particularly enjoyed the Ben Franklin quote, "He that lives upon hope will die fasting." I think anyone who has read Government's End would see that the American people working together IS actually THE problem when it comes to government's dysfunction.

Aug 20th - 09:39am | Michael Kellett

Beamis,

Aug 19th - 15:31pm | Michael Kellett

Just because something is important doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be subjected to federal control. In fact the places I've mentioned are much better off without the politics, budget shortfalls and institutional neglect that is inherent in a massive federal bureaucracy.

What's the Solution For Cape Hatteras National Seashore?

Aug 20th - 15:13pm | SAMSDAD

I decided to respond since I was the one that used sarcasm to make my point on putting lockers at the point is a bad idea and after going into shock after seeing the response by LONE HIKER.

Aug 20th - 13:00pm | dapster

Lone Hiker, Thank you for your kind words, and also in taking the time to look at Google Earth in relation to this issue. It certainly is a wonderful tool! I hope that a flyover of the area gave you and other readers a better understanding of the logistical complexities that all possible access related options face on this part of the island.

Aug 20th - 11:18am | Dave Vachet

Good stuff dapster and beamis. Very well put. It's funny how the folks that want you off your beaches stop talking when the truth about the critters starts coming up. But, I guess they don't really care about the critters in the first place. Kurt, thank you for this forum and your article on this issue I'd also like to remind everyone that the consent decree is illegal.

Aug 20th - 08:54am | Lone Hiker

Ah, GoogleEarth, one of my favorite new toys of the past 5 years!!!

Aug 19th - 14:51pm | dapster

Chris, Your quote: "As my time as a Senior volunteer at a National Park has taught me "Mitigation funding" is something you come to both love and hate, and thanks to the current adminstration the NPS's increasing reliance on it has become a serious problem."

Aug 19th - 13:07pm | dapster

Lonehiker, Thanks for the agreement on the fishing issue. The state of NC indeed has both salt and fresh water fishing license requirements, as well as min.-max. size limits per species. The money collected from these fees goes to good uses throughout the state.

Aug 19th - 13:03pm | Bugsyshallfall

As my time as a Senior volunteer at a National Park has taught me "Mitigation funding" is something you come to both love and hate, and thanks to the current adminstration the NPS's increasing reliance on it has become a serious problem.

Aug 19th - 12:25pm | Ted Clayton

Customary and Traditional Uses and Rights

Aug 19th - 12:00pm | SAMSDAD

The title of the article is intended to bring about suggestions for solutions to the ongoing debate about the long-term prognosis for the health of the ecosystem, not the convenience of tourists, locals, and those hell-bent on some off-roading adventure.

Aug 19th - 10:19am | Lone Hiker

I'll admit that I personally haven't set foot on the Outer Banks since the North Carolina Jam era, and back then this issue was a non-factor. But the whole ORV transgression versus environmental impact raised during multiple tangents to this central theme is growing rather tedious.

Aug 19th - 09:29am | SAMSDAD

Rangertoo,

Aug 19th - 08:21am | dapster

Rangertoo,

Aug 19th - 08:20am | Kurt Repanshek

Kingfisher, your point is well taken, but in all fairness it can be ascribed to folks on both side of this issue.

Aug 19th - 07:59am | SAMSDAD

For all of those who argue about the access in Cape Hatteras seem to think this is just an ORV thing. Well this only promotes our new Motto and proves without a doubt "IT IS AND NEVER WAS ABOUT THE BIRDS". Not one single person who has stated their opinion about this present day issue has said please do not run over the birds.

Aug 19th - 07:40am | Kingspointer

See Kurt, this is what we are dealing with. No logic, no decisions based upon best available science, just pure emotion and pseudo science......and you wonder why we are having a hard time with the REG-NEG Committee appointed by DOI Secretary. They are not willing to negotiate in good faith

Aug 19th - 07:33am | Rangertoo

Re the comment: "No vehicles on the beach = no fishing". Excellent! There should be no fishing allowed in the park or any park. Why do we prohibit killing mammals, birds, and even insects in most national parks but allow killing fish? Aren't they an important part of the ecosystem. Go somewhere else and kill fish.

Aug 19th - 00:12am | longcaster

Kurt, the language;recreational activities of similar nature, which shall be developed for such uses as needed, means that ramps will be cut through the dunes to limit where ORV access to the beach. They knew back then that we had to keep penetrations through the dunes to a minimum and at specific places, and built in certain ways. The villagers knew that also.

Aug 18th - 22:34pm | Bluetick

A very interesting document in the creation of the seashore. The following is an excert of US Senate testimony, with the original document scanned into the written testimony. Refer to the page numbers to read the history and see the portions provided below. Link:

Aug 18th - 22:01pm | Andrew

I'm not denying that ORVs long have played a role in CAHA and I do believe they will continue to, but if that's the only way you get your kids outside....

Aug 18th - 21:53pm | Andrew

[quote=Kurt Repanshek]That said, to the best of my knowledge the "RA" suffix really doesn't set Cape Hatteras aside to be managed with recreation foremost in mind....

Aug 18th - 21:21pm | Kurt Repanshek

Eric, Sorry for your disappointment. Frankly, I'm not directing the thread, the community is. I don't feel it's my role to say one side is right or the other wrong, and I think I've made that pretty evident in my comments.

Aug 18th - 20:31pm | EricD

You anti ORV people make me sick, Please tell me, just one at a time please, just how do you plan to raise your children with proper family values without access to our American Treasures, You people are promoting access to dead end roads to our childrens futures! I can't Find it within myself to tell my child, it's ok, just watch TV instead of going outside.

National Park Quiz 16: Waterfalls

Aug 20th - 14:54pm | jsmacdonald

Completely coincidental to this week's quiz, I found myself writing today about waterfalls - focused for points of reference mostly on the Yellowstone ones I have experienced - but really about all waterfalls.

Aug 20th - 11:29am | Anonymous

According to wiki.... Dark Hollow Falls, near Skyline Drive, Virginia, is an example of cascade waterfall. It even shows the same picture as the quiz.

Aug 20th - 08:18am | Joseph

You are wrong. Dark Hollow Falls is a classic tier horse tail...as the water rides on the rocks...a classic plunge is where the water falls away from the rocks from top to bottom....

Pruning the Parks: Six National Parks Acquired via Transfer in 1933 Were Subsequently Abolished

Aug 20th - 13:51pm | Kelly

@ Beamis (or anyone else who knows): Was the NPS sued in the Bonneville Power / Zion case for not protecting the Park's resources? Or was there something in the Park's original designation that allowed the power company to put through the power line?

Aug 20th - 12:51pm | FrankC

"Because it's a state park, not a national park, there's no guarantee that the line won't go through."

Aug 20th - 10:41am | Kelly

Beyond the Parks that were pruned in the 1930s, there is also at least one that should have been made a national park but wasn't. The area known now as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park became a 600,000 acre California state park instead and is said to be the second largest state park in the country.

Aug 19th - 12:44pm | Bugsyshallfall

I think to help solve the delisting problem the National Natural Landmark system needs to be reworked, because there are many places of national value that should be honored and could help greatly from this but probably would not make such a great National Park. Also, a local and regional designation should be created as well.

Aug 19th - 10:31am | Ted Clayton

Beamis, Early in 1970 I shipped out of skid row Seattle on the Greyhound Line to work the Burlington Northern railroad tie-gang refurbishing track through Montana.

Aug 19th - 10:29am | Lone Hiker

I have no problems delisting, as pruning a tree sometimes increases the overall health of the plant.

Aug 19th - 10:12am | Bugsyshallfall

Now as time went some sites actual were of national value and later became National Landmarks, namely the one in Georgia. I am not a fan of delisting but I will conseed in some areas.

Black Bear Attacks Child at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Aug 20th - 12:08pm | Kurt Repanshek

Ted et al, Park rangers initially estimated the bear weighed 55 pounds. It later came in at 86 pounds, still probably too small to take on an adult.

Aug 20th - 11:02am | Ted Clayton

This bear weighed 55 pounds. A young male like this would not be aggressive toward another bear weighing 100 or 150 pounds. It would defer and retreat. It would know perfectly well that a larger bear could be dangerous.

Aug 20th - 09:40am | Kurt Repanshek

Trish, I'm not sure we can rush to judgment on what the parents did or didn't do. Obviously, they were close enough nearby that the father could rush to his son's rescue. Too, rangers who responded noted that the bear charged them, as well, so merely standing and watching from a distance might not have worked in this case.

Aug 20th - 09:13am | Trish

Park Rangers are quick to tell you to keep your children and any pets close when bears are around. Where were the parents? It's unfortunate that a bear had to lose it's life because of careless humans. These people should be ashamed of themselves for not following the most basic rules while visiting the Park. We hiked Rainbow Falls in June and also encounterd a black bear on the trail.

Aug 19th - 22:13pm | Mama Martin

I hope that this situation doesn't keep people from going and enjoying Cades Cove. This attack really saddened me, a young child playing in the water being attacked. I should first say I wish a speedy recovery to the child and his father. This being said, my family was at Cades Cove at the begining of July and August, and we encountered bears both time.

National Park Service Admits Mistakes With Proposed Little Bighorn Visitor Center Expansion

Aug 20th - 10:02am | Ted Clayton

Intermountain Regional Director Mike Snyder said:

Collapse of "Wall Arch" Proves Gravity Does Work at Arches National Park

Aug 19th - 21:29pm | Adam

I just got back from a cross country road trip where we stopped at Arches. We were there about a week before the Wall Arch collapsed.

Aug 18th - 21:38pm | Alan

I was there just a few weeks ago. I feel immensely privileged to have been one of the last people to view Wall Arch. It all seems so majestic and immovable when you are there, strange to think that just a few weeks later (a heartbeat in geological time) it's gone.

Will Second Century Commission Succeed With Its National Parks Assessment and Recommendations?

Aug 19th - 14:42pm | Michael Kellett

Jim,

Aug 19th - 12:52pm | Bugsyshallfall

Michael, I agree with you on the Centennial initiative issue but the fact is NPS needs money, and fast.

Aug 19th - 11:12am | jsmacdonald

Michael,

Aug 19th - 10:54am | Michael Kellett

Kurt, A couple of points. why are no large conservation-oriented NGOs, such as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, or the World Wildlife Fund, represented on the commission?

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring

Aug 19th - 10:53am | M. D. Vaden

An update to my previous post ... After photographing the Grove of Titans which are described in The Wild Trees, I afterward determined the boundaries of Atlas Grove and acquired images from there as well. The photos are all provided at the same page listed earlier: http://www.mdvaden.com/grove_of_titans.shtml

Grand Canyon National Park "Short Haul" Operations

Aug 19th - 09:36am | Anonymous

Try contacting the Red Cross at: www.redcross.org They have a search page for locating rescued people: https://disastersafe.redcross.org/

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