| Page 1555 | National Parks Traveler

Frank, what exactly do you mean by "gives almost nothing back to the park"? What is the fee that these lodges pay to NPS? Is it the same across the system or does it vary from park to park? I'm not familiar with how NPS manages their concession system but it sounds like you are. I'm interested in seeing how much the NPS earns off a place like the Ahwahnee. Matt

National Park Service to Charge for Clean Air?

Aug 28th - 15:34pm | Kelly

Is there any way to find out if this survey is related to the ongoing State Implementation Plans (SIP) being written across the country this year that are supposed to improve visibility in our national parks, in order to comply with fairly recent rules on regional haze?

Aug 27th - 19:58pm | Beth Whitman

I guess we can all, uh, breathe a sigh of relief :-)

Aug 27th - 18:07pm | jlisa

Look, We already pay taxes for environmental issues.

Missing Hiker in Yosemite Found Dead

Aug 28th - 14:18pm | AG

Does anyone know exactly where she was found?

91st Anniversary for National Park Service

Aug 27th - 20:08pm | jersu

You're welcome Beth! Without trying too hard, conversation can get pretty serious around here. Occasionally, I try to keep it a little light-hearted if I can.

Aug 27th - 20:00pm | Beth Whitman

Thanks for the laugh-out-loud photo!

Aug 27th - 13:25pm | jersu

Don't know if there is an official committee, but we could start one! I've given our man a straw flat hat for the desert environment of Death Valley ... we have to keep SOME of the tradition alive, how else would we separate the NASCAR drivers from the NPS Rangers?

Aug 27th - 10:49am | jersu

I nominate Frank and Beamis to head up the NPT centennial uniform committee. I'd like to suggest the NPS consider uniforms like these from NASCAR. They are built from a fire-retardant material (addresses safety), and there is plenty of room for the logos of Proud Partner organizations. I don't think directors order #21 has any objections to branding of the uniform.

Aug 26th - 18:23pm | vink80

It is quite exasperating to see the money grabbing private enterprizes running some of our national parks. They should not be run on a hotel hilton theme . Some how the original intent has been lost to profiteering.

And, Speaking of Volcanoes ... Audio Story at Lassen Volcanic

Aug 27th - 18:04pm | Russell Virgilio

I've been a year-round park ranger (interpreter) at Lassen for 2 and 1/2 years now I have to say no matter how many times you've visited the park, it will always leave you wanting more.

The Essential Death Valley

Aug 25th - 11:03am | Random Walker

Actually there is quite a bit of adventurous and popular back country backpacking in Death Valley National Park. I have noticed that most of your guides / reports cater more to the day hiker, restaurant camping, hotel crowd. Not that I mind as it keeps the back country in Our National Parks a little more serene, I suppose :-)

Aug 25th - 05:59am | Anonymous

The dunes photo accompanying this article is absolutely superb. Anyone who has ever photographed dunes in a similar setting can appreciate how difficult it is to get every element -- composition, lighting, texture, whatever -- exactly right. I'm impressed.

Blue Angels Fly By Grand Tetons

Aug 25th - 07:21am | jsmacdonald

A fairly happy ending to this story as far as I'm concerned (though they managed one shot that they might use, but not what they wanted). See Clouds thwart Angels in Teton photo shoot

Learning About the Parks, and Getting Credit for It, Too!

Aug 24th - 13:47pm | Michelle

I couldn't agree more, your comment says it all:)

Aug 24th - 11:10am | Anonymous

Worth both the time and the cost. I don't recall any 300+ level course being a "cakewalk", at least not in the sciences. And did anyone ever complete a "cakewalk" course and acutally learn anything, I mean actually RETAIN, as in long-term, any principles or concepts from the 16+ weeks of the program? Insofar as the cost, highly justified by modern collegiate standards.

NPS Centennial Projects and Programs Announced

Aug 24th - 13:31pm | Glenn Scofield ...

Maybe I misunderstand here... but looking at the full list, it looks like most of these proposals are from groups that would have been doing these projects even if this was not the centennial. Yosemite Fund and Yellowstone Foundation and many other park partners have these planned far in advance and are doing projects such as these every year.

The Park Service's Historic Buildings Can Be Saved Without Resorting to Leases

Aug 23rd - 19:54pm | jersu

Welcome back Frank. As a quick point of clarification, I'm not sure anyone disagrees with you on this point. I'm pretty sure the Cultural Resource folks within the NPS say the same thing, that historic buildings need to be occupied, they need to be lived in and cared after every day.

Aug 23rd - 13:46pm | Bob Dahl

Let's not forget that all funds for restoration of park properties at one time were private. Just because money has percolated through government hands doesn't make it any more "pure." There are many, many private organizations who have only the best intentioins for the preservation of historic buildings within the park syatem.

The Consequences of the Legal Bear Hunt in Katmai

Aug 23rd - 11:08am | JC

The state of Alaska seems to be managing their bear population as if they have too many bears. One huge problem with that is people visit Alaska not only to hunt but also to view the bears.

Aug 23rd - 11:00am | anonymous

Jim, thanks for sharing the Casper Star-Tribune article on: President orders hunting focus. I think this article will relate very well with Alaska's fish and game policies. I can now see these sporting trek outfits licking there chops over this article...$$$! Anything that relates to Gale Norton and her former administrative policies, I smell a rat in the hole.

Aug 23rd - 09:13am | jsmacdonald

Interesting related story from the policy standpoint in today's Casper Star-Tribune. This talks in general about the Bush Administration policy toward hunting on public lands and not to Alaska in particular - but certainly relevant.

Aug 22nd - 15:45pm | jersu

Off hand ... I don't know, although, it may be worth checking into. I do know that 2/3 of the acreage for the entire National Park Service is held in Alaska's parks, more than 55 million acres. We've covered stories in the past about the challenges the parks face having to patrol that much acreage, but I couldn't find anything specific to poaching with a quick search of our archives.

Aug 22nd - 15:32pm | Anonymous

Jeremy, right off hand do you know if illegal bear poaching is a serious problem in Alaska. Some years ago there was quite a bit of bear poaching in the upper regions of Northern California. I'm not sure if there is a huge demand for bear parts (paws & penis organs...etc.) these days, which pays very well for it's aphrodisiac effects...so said by certain Asian communities.

Aug 22nd - 12:34pm | jersu

I'm not an expert in game management, but the state of Alaska should be. What I think is so surprising about this story, is that the state is going against its own guidelines for the bear hunt. If they have decided that 18 should be the upper limit of bears hunted/harvested/killed/, then why would they give out permits for twice that number?

Aug 22nd - 12:18pm | Claire Walter

Like Merryland, I've always had a bit of a problem when land managers use the word "harvest" when it comes to big game hunting. A bear is not a blackberry. And elk is not an eggplant. A moose is not a mango. Subsistence or sport hunting (or sportfishing, in fact) for food is one thing. Do so just to hang a dead aminal trophy on the wall is entirely another.

Aug 22nd - 07:34am | Mookie

Reminds me of one of Ed Abbey's famous quotes: If people persist in trespassing upon the grizzlies' territory, we must accept the fact that the grizzlies, from time to time, will harvest a few trespassers.

Aug 20th - 18:39pm | Snowbird

Snowbird06 Sporting chance is right! Yeah, out of those spotter planes and hit the ground and hump the brush with a Ben Pearson bow...now that's giving the bear a fighting chance. I can remember once reading a bumper sticker in back of a pickup truck which read: "a huge gut pile is a happy hunter"....hopefully, the guy was a poor shot. Good points Merryland!!

Aug 20th - 17:40pm | Merryland

Shouldn't the salmon population and general availability of food determine the bear population in a balanced ecosystem?

Aug 20th - 10:27am | jersu

I think rather than anti-hunter, it's a pro-bear statement. Jim is speaking specifically about hunting bears in a Park Service managed area that was protected in-part to protect bears and bear habitat.

Aug 20th - 08:45am | Mike

All this diatribe is, is an anti-hunter statement. If the state must issue a permit for a bear, that in itself is a limit to how many bears will be harvested. Of course the tree-hugging writer cannot fathom this and states there is "no limit" on the amount of bears that one can harvest.

Yosemite's Half Dome: Everything You Need to Successfully Hike Yosemite's Most Famous Landmark

Aug 21st - 11:21am | Rick Deutsch

Kurt, Thanks for the review of my book. We need to get education out so more can enjoy this hike - safely. Just a couple points of clarification. The book title is actually: "One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome".

Bear at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park

Aug 21st - 00:10am | Merryland

You put your right paw in, you put your right paw out, You put your right paw in, and you shake it all about, You do the Coho Pokey and you run the fish aground, That's what it's all about. -- Jon Merryman

Mission

Aug 20th - 16:36pm | John Eagle

Great website. Good to see you guys expanding. Good Luck

Celebrating the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Aug 19th - 22:33pm | B. Krumenaker

The peace park idea continues to grow and one of its great advocates is Nelson Mandela. Peace parks in Africa are being created not just for conservation purposes but to foster reconciliation between peoples long at odds.

Fire Continues to Keep Yellowstone's East Entrance Closed

Aug 19th - 13:40pm | jsmacdonald

Mudslide cleared; East Entrance opened again. See 8/19/07 Mudslide outside Yellowstone cleared; East Entrance open again (press release by National Park Service)

Aug 18th - 19:38pm | jsmacdonald

No sooner do you think that it's safe to travel through the East Entrance, and it closes yet again! This time, it's not the fire but a mudslide outside of the park. This is the second time this summer a mudslide has closed the East Entrance.

Aug 17th - 12:45pm | jsmacdonald

As of 9 AM MDT, the NPS has yet again re-opened the East Entrance. See http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/0774.htm.

Clara Barton's House Goes High-Tech

Aug 18th - 20:24pm | Merryland

Still nothing like seeing it in person with all the creaking floors and steps, but my daughter will surely love it. Also if you visit the real site on Tuesdays, they often have a 4-person play called Clara Barton: The Courage Within which brings Clara's life... err uhh... to life.

The Traveler's Code of Conduct

Aug 17th - 17:41pm | Anonymous

I really enjoyed the traveler when it was more of a web magazine than a blog, because it lent credibility to the issues Kurt explored and exposed that NPS employees knew about but couldn't do anything about.

Pot Farmers Tilling Ground in Yosemite

Aug 17th - 10:54am | Anonymous

that's funny. the national guard will cause more environmental damage going after the growers than the growers themselves cause.

Aug 17th - 10:09am | Kath

Well you can petition your representatives to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act which has been in effect since the days of Reconstruction....or.....(much easier) get them to just enforce the laws on the books now using more ICE and DEA with the help of the NPS.

Aug 17th - 08:26am | Anonymous

Think about this! Right now we are paying farmers to not grow on land because we have an over abundance of alot of these crops and it drives the price for that crop so low that it is more profitable for the farmers to not grow on this land. they call it CPR ground and it is still costing the taxpayers to pay these farmers to not grow on it.

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