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The Essential Bryce Canyon

Jul 18th - 20:26pm | repanshek

While I can't attest to size limits at Bryce Canyon, the two park campgrounds do have RV sites available. While there are no hookups, there is a pay dump station at the south end of North Campground. Hope that helps.

Jul 18th - 19:54pm | Anonymous

While I certainly appreciate your writings and videos, I wish you would describe RV availability together with size limits. Thanks

Private Party At Charlestown Navy Yard Doesn't Lack Alcohol

Jul 18th - 18:55pm | Beamis

Why does is it seem so blasphemous, to so many, whenever it is even suggested that private non-profit foundations could possibly do a better more focused job of running many individual NPS units? Why is the first response always that "we'd be selling off the parks to the highest bidder".

Jul 18th - 16:58pm | Disgusted Taxpayer

Yes there are other parties at the Yard but they are usually contained and do not deny the park to the people. The problem is the only company allowed to do plnning business is Amelia Occasions and no other companies. That is the perfect definition of a monopoly. Microsoft was sued for creating a monopoly and yet the Regional Office of the Park Service is creating one for a Florida Company.

Jul 18th - 16:27pm | kath

No. Movie making in the National Parks has been going on for a long time, under all administrations. Think of 'Shane' in Grand Tetons, numerous Westerns in Death Valley, 'Maverick' in Yosemite. Parts of "Jurassic Park, Part II were filmed in the redwoods on the northern California coast. So 'renting out' the national parks for private companies profit-making is nothing new.

Jul 18th - 15:34pm | Beamis

We'd never be waging a $12 billion dollar a month war under any other administration either. Gotta take the dollars where you can find 'em because the Chinese ain't gonna lend us dough forever.

Jul 18th - 14:00pm | Snowbird

Kath, this kind of crap that you have mentioned would of never happened under Steward Udall's watch (and his under secretaries).

Jul 18th - 11:56am | kath

Oh, and the film crew tried to keep me off certain trails and areas on public lands so that they could film their movie. It's certainly not the first time National Parks have been rented out for movie making. Yes, they do make lovely movie locations, but how much damage does putting what amounts to a movie factory (even temporarily) on park lands do?

Jul 18th - 11:48am | kath

Why the outrage over this? The Santa Monica National Recreation Area is rented out for movie production. Picture me one Saturday afternoon trying to take a hike, when suddenly helicopters hover overhead with 'commandos' scaling down ropes onto what was supposed to be a quiet picturesque mesa. It was the filming of "Mission Impossible 3".

Jul 17th - 20:55pm | John S Darlington

I have been a uniformed volunteer at the C-town Navy Yard, and Bunker's Hill, since 1999. (I'm currently on medical leave.) I also served aboard USS CONSTITUTION, first as a member of the US Marine Guard and later as a special historical assistant to the 67th and 68th in Command. During my active tenure, there have been literally hundreds of "private parties" at CNY.

Jul 16th - 20:18pm | Disgusted Taxpayer

The misuse of the Navy Yard seems to be a matter of the government forgetting the purpose of our National Parks. The National Parks were developed to preserve our heritage either the historical or environmental heritage.

Electric Map Going Away at Gettysburg National Military Park

Jul 18th - 11:31am | Marty

I agree with Merryland. At historical sites, it’s important to provide an understanding the event in historical context. Most of the Parks are very good at that.

Jul 17th - 21:14pm | Anonymous

first it was the tower, now the map...SAD

Jul 17th - 19:58pm | Merryland

Yes, this is rather sad to me. As a kid, the moving lights on the map made sense. It allowed me to visualize out on the battlefield what happened where. And other parks took notice of their popularity and effectiveness and made their own moving light displays -- Fort McHenry, Monocacy Battlefield, and others.

Bringing Color to the Public Lands Landscape

Jul 18th - 09:46am | Equally Anonymous

I spent some time working for the USFS is California (Region 5), which, for many years in the 90s and early 00s was operating under the court-ordered Hispanic Settlement Agreement (HSA) to try to increase hispanic representation in the R5 employees.

Jul 18th - 02:26am | Anonymous

Discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, sex, education, etc is a problem that has long plagued these United States of America. It is a discussion that should be at every table where folks congregate. Great thread!

Jul 17th - 23:00pm | Erik

Here's some more grist for the mill:

Jul 17th - 19:09pm | Beamiss

Anon---I agree with you about sharing the parks with a wide variety of people. That is the nature and essence of my business. It's fine for each of us to share what we are passionate about to those who may be new to the experience. That is not the thread I am picking up from the previous commentary.

Jul 17th - 18:43pm | kath

But no one has yet said what the National Parks should do? Put in more exhibits about other cultures and races? Fine. Historical accuracy is always best. But does anyone have any evidence that this would increase minority park visitation? As I said, even when an entire park like Mesa Verde is entirely devoted to Native American history, the number of Native visitors is low.

Jul 17th - 17:50pm | Anonymous

beamis: while i usually appreciate your perspective, i don't think trying to share the values of the experience of a national park smacks of paternalism. people love nature, period. i've lead "colored" urban youth (many that didn't speak english and weren't born in this country), "lily white" gray hairs and international visitors on various tours in various outside locations year round.

Jul 17th - 17:18pm | Beamis

Tastes and fashions change. I started reading newspapers when I was 8 years old. Today kids could care less about the traditional newspaper. One by one these dinosaurs are dying out, the web having changed the way we get information forever. It will never go back to the days of newsprint no matter what the publishers try to do to change it.

Jul 17th - 16:25pm | Glenn Scofield ...

This is an exquisite, unnerving and important conversation. I'm glad there's a forum for it.

Jul 17th - 16:08pm | kath

Wayne: You still haven't said specifically what you think the NPS should do.

Jul 17th - 15:26pm | Anonymous

One poll I read a few years ago said that of ALL government services, people liked the National Parks more than anything. The only thing that could doom the National Parks is if huge population pressures make the parks and their surrounding lands housing developments, shopping centers, electrical corridors or highways.

Jul 17th - 15:08pm | Wayne Hare

Actually, The Park Service, for whom I rangered in the backcountry for 7 years, often refers to the lands it protects as museums for the enjoyment and education of its visitors.

Jul 17th - 10:51am | Beamis

I agree with Ranger X's inital observation that this is "meaningless drivel, mindless mumbo jumbo." The focus lavished on this issue is another example of a politically driven agenda awkwardly intruding upon what the natural mechanisms of the market place have brought about through free choice.

Jul 17th - 10:45am | kath

Anonymous is absolutely right. He said in one sentence what it took me a paragraph to say. Wayne sounds more like the marketing manager of a major corporation worried about his product's market share in the minority community than a ranger. The National Parks are not and should not be run like Disneyland worried about appealing to this or that demographic.

Jul 17th - 09:22am | Anonymous

When did it become the job of the NPS to attract a balanced cross section of ethnicity's to Our parks?

Jul 17th - 07:33am | jsmacdonald

First of all, it's a very interesting discussion, and I sense we are all taking it to heart. I appreciate Kurt's bibliography, though I'll insist that it wasn't necessary for us to have a serious discussion about this - it certainly adds to the richness of the discussion.

Jul 17th - 07:04am | Merryland

I don't pretend to be a statistician, so no worry there about how I apply them. I live in a part of the world where white people live in the big homes and black people generally don't. The dumpy part of town is 70% black and the nice areas are 90% white. I don't need any numbers to tell me that's former injustices still having a negative effect on people's lives.

Jul 17th - 00:59am | Merryland

This is per capita income for Boston in 2005. Just a single example but fairly consistent with most samplings from most metro areas I've seen. I'd wager that here in Baltimore or DC it's the same if not worse. White $41,194 Asian American $20,350 Hispanic or Latino $14,104 Black or African American $16,553

Jul 16th - 23:43pm | jersu

Wayne, Thanks very much for adding to the discussion on the website! I've been thinking about this topic all day. Your questions are good and worth exploring, specifically, what can racial diversity in the outdoors do for all of us?

Jul 16th - 23:10pm | snowbird

Ranger Hare, your comments are well taken...good input! Your comments have become a beacon light towards the issue on diversity in the National Parks.

Jul 16th - 22:24pm | Wayne Hare

Kurt Repanshek asked me to read the comments and write a response. I don’t want to get involved in an on-going discussion. I’m not an expert on this. I’m just an outdoor guy who made some observations and commented on those observations. Regarding empirical data versus hard science: Many have had the same observations as I.

Jul 16th - 22:00pm | Merryland

What I absolutely do NOT want to see is the National Park Service advertising or marketing itself to attract visitors. The parks are what they are -- and it should be a timeless attraction, not whatever this- or that-generation thinks is hip or chic at the moment. -- Jon

Jul 16th - 21:48pm | repanshek

To say that this has been an interesting discussion to follow would be an understatement. It's also not a new discussion, but rather one that's been poked and prodded from various angles since at least 1963, as the following list of studies indicates:

Jul 16th - 20:10pm | Merryland

I think it's all pretty simple -- people with the means to get to the National Parks go visit the National Parks. Those who can't afford it generally don't and/or can't.

Jul 16th - 19:34pm | RangerX

So, empirical studies on these issues would be quite nice, but we have plenty to understand that there is a problem. We don't need to know for sure the general tendencies to see that the specific instances (those anecdotes you deride) are plenty of evidence to work from about the wretched ways racism still touches us and the parks.

Jul 16th - 18:15pm | kath

First of all, Hare is simply wrong in his assessment. Yosemite and Sequoia in very Hispanic California get lots of Hispanic visitors. I've seen many Asians in the national parks, foreign visitors and Americans. The Grand Canyon gets people from all over the country. The parks in the Northwest get mostly Caucasians, but then the Pacific Northwest is the whitest part of the country.

Jul 16th - 14:47pm | jersu

First, for those interested in digesting more on this subject, the audio journal WildeBeat produced an episode about this very subject back in January.

Jul 16th - 14:05pm | RangerX

None of you have addressed the fundamental issue: Diversity is a code word for skin color. There is no anger or cynicism behind that comment.

Jul 16th - 13:18pm | snowbird

Kurt and Jim bring out some excellent points to ranger Hare's essay. It appears, we have a long way's to go, regarding ranger X's comment which borders on a bit of anger if not cynicism. Just knowing that some of us busted are butts off in college to get good grades with hopes to land in a respectable job, but to be squashed out by the goverments affirmative action clause.

Visitation Trends Up In Yosemite, Glacier and Yellowstone

Jul 18th - 08:13am | Anja Leiendecker

I hope so too. Will be in Yellowstone in the last week of August as well. Prefer to enjoy the QUIET of the park without all the screeming kids around.

Jul 17th - 20:41pm | Merryland

Glad I reserved my campsite back in the winter. I promise not to hawk it on e-Bay! We'll be driving in from Thermopolis after a day of digging for dinosaur bones.

Rare Orchid in Yosemite Identified As New Species

Jul 17th - 22:38pm | A1957 Lizard

Orchids are a Truely amazing species from the little I know about them.Maybe, you could take cuttings from these "Rare" species and multiply them through Cloning them, and replant them in there protected environment.If they produce seed,well,think of how many could be planted to save any species from extinction.Folks ?? Sometimes it takes "MAN" to help save what "MAN" deystroys.

Considering a Hike up Half Dome?

Jul 17th - 20:01pm | Anonymous

Take the cables down. Put a bolted climbing route up where the cables were. It would be a nice easy climb. A great experience for a guided beginner climber and much safer. I climbed the cables a few years ago, in May, there wasn't very many people there. If got to the cables and saw that many folks going up I would have gone back to camp.

West Yellowstone: A Gateway Town Worth Hanging Around

Jul 17th - 12:40pm | Anonymous

Our Sunday school class of 70+ young seniors came out to West Yellowstone last winter. We stayed in West and used it to try all different things. We took a snowcoach tour into West Yellowstone one day, learned to ride snowmobiles the next day and spent the day going along the groomed trails right outside of West Yellowstone. It was just as easy as driving our golf cart back home.

Jul 16th - 11:51am | Stephen Timblin

Hey Kurt,

Congressman Calls for Investigation Into Fort Hancock Deal

Jul 17th - 04:48am | Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Dear Mr. Merryman, I couldn't agree with you more. I recently visited Sandy Hook, taking the ferry from Lower Manhattan. Its beautiful beaches were crowded on a hot July day, providing welcome relief from the heat for thousands of people. But the historic and natural attractions were equally interesting.

Everglades To Host Another Meeting on Managing Boats

Jul 16th - 13:46pm | coolstud

It is visible to see what power boaters are doing,pictures don't lie.There are people who care,and the people who don't care are the ones to blame.Why not take the power boating completely out and have boats with no motors, enjoy the nature,get back to basics,like the indians did,whats wrong with that???

The Essential RVing Guide

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