This is great news and hopefully the funding will be arranged. The largest collection of dinosaur fossils have not been available for viewing since July of 2006 when the center was closed for structural difficulties and human safety. I, for one, look forward to visiting when the new center is up. You can visit our park page and learn more about this unique park- Dinosaur National Monument.  Corie Marks

By Mike Stark
The Associated Press The Salt Lake Tribune

Quarry Visitor Center, photo NPS

Design work will start next month for a new visitor center at the nation's premier quarry of Jurassic-period dinosaur bones.

The National Park Service has signed a decision allowing construction of a new interpretive center at Dinosaur National Monument and rehabilitation of the structure that protects its famous collection of bones.

The Quarry Visitor Center, about 20 miles east of Vernal, has been closed for more than two years because of safety problems. The center was built atop unstable clay. The center houses more than 1,500 dinosaur bones. The closure has frustrated visitors and paleontologists seeking access to what the Park Service calls ''the world's best window" into late-Jurassic fossils.

Mary Risser, the monument's superintendent, said design of the $10 million project will take about a year. Construction money could be available for 2011, according to the Park Service, but so far the project hasn't been funded.
 

''With that huge bailout bill, I have no idea what that's going to mean for our budget and these kinds of projects," Risser said.
 

The odds may be long for the project to be immediately funded but at least the Park Service will be ready with a design when Congress acts, said Jim Kirkland, Utah's state paleontologist. ''It's wonderful news, that's the crown jewel of Utah paleontology," he said.

The visitor center was built in 1957-58 to shelter an exposed cliff face full of dinosaur bones discovered by a Carnegie Museum researcher in 1909. But the bentonite beneath the building swells when it's wet, warping the concrete basement floor, and shifts again when the clay dries out. That has meant near-constant shifting and repairs. When engineers cut holes in the floor and ceiling for a closer look in 2006, the problem was worse than previously thought. The center abruptly closed that July. Federal investigators in March said the building's rapid deterioration puts the ''irreplaceable fossils at risk."

It's been frustrating to have the bones out of reach for the public and researchers, Kirkland said. ''Scientists from all over the world want to stop in and see that," he said.

Although fixes have been discussed since the visitor center closed, the process has been slow and complicated. The building is listed as a National Historic Landmark, which means having to comply with an extra set of rules. Under the plan, the Park Service will rehabilitate the existing exhibit hall surrounding the 150-foot fossil wall to make sure the bones are protected. Other parts of the building would be demolished. An interpretive center and administrative offices would be built nearby. Meanwhile, the existing building continues to creak and groan, Risser said. ''The cracks are getting large. It hasn't fallen through, but it's just not in good shape," Risser said.

The monument straddles the Utah-Colorado line, about 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.

FESTIVAL INFORMATION:

The Cedar Breaks National Monument Wildflower Festival is an annual event that takes place each July. Activities include guided wildflower walks; kid’s scavenger hunts, guided wildflower photography and guided hikes with Rangers. This year the festival will take place July 3rd --- July 20th. The winner of this competition will appear in the local newspaper and have their artwork used on the poster advertising the Wildflower Festival. The winner will also be pictured on the Cedar Breaks website. The competition will be judged by a committee composed of botanists, college professors, members of the Cedar City Arts Council and representatives from Cedar Breaks National Monument. For information on last years festival go to www.nps.gov/cebr .

SUBMISSION CRITERIA:

- Image should represent flora found in and around the Cedar Breaks National Monument.

- Submissions which best represent the Cedar Breaks flora will be given the strongest consideration by the Committee.

- The original work can be in any format, e.g. 2D --- watercolor, acrylic, oils, photography or 3D sculpture or installation.

- Entries need to be submitted in the form of a CD-R readable by any Windows XP operating system with high resolution and may be included in an online gallery. PLEASE DO NOT SEND your artwork as we are NOT ACCEPTING actual works of art.

- The file name of your artwork must include your last name.

They will accept a digital file of your artwork between March 1st, 2009 and April 30th 2009. You must include the attached form with your submission to be eligible.

By submitting a form you agree that Cedar Breaks National Monument may use all or parts of your work on all print and online media in connection with the 2008 Wildflower Festival. The Committee may also edit or alter the work so it can be used or printed effectively.

http://www.eastziontourismcouncil.org/sb143.htm

Effective Friday, September 12, 2008, Death Valley National Park will permit a flight exercise in partnership with the US military. This unique opportunity allows the park to obtain detailed aerial photographs and other data that will be used to study and protect park resources.

The exercise will take place in a special military-use airspace complex known as R-2508. The R-2508 Complex does overlap the park boundaries; however the R-2508 airspace managers have worked closely with Death Valley National Park in establishing agreements that have helped minimize aircraft over flights that may impact park resources and its visitors.

During this exercise visitors may observe low flying aircraft photographing and documenting certain areas of the park.

"This kind of partnership with the military is something we have desired since I arrived at Death Valley and we have finally realized this objective," states Superintendent JT Reynolds. When we are able to combine military expertise and technology with resource protection, everyone benefits. We also hope we can get the military’s support for future projects.

The National Park Service

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Editor

Picture courtesy of www.themusicage.com

Our favorite national park is celebrating 75 years in 2009. How appropriate that Dolly Parton who has been a big supporter of the Smoky Mountains heritage should be the official spokes person. We are definitely going down for some of the activities scheduled next year!   Look for our article telling you about just a few of the many events planned. Corie Marks

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Dolly Parton, who often refers to her Smoky Mountains upbringing, will serve as the ambassador for the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There will be events throughout 2009 celebrating Congress' approval to form the park on June 15, 1934.

Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson said Thursday that Parton emerged as the obvious choice for the ambassador selection.

Parton, who grew up in the foothills of the Smokies in Tennessee's Sevier County, said she's always been an advocate for the park, but she is honored to become "official."

The 62-year-old country singer will lend her endorsement through media announcements and publications and has written an album titled "Sha-Kon-O-Hey" — the phonetic spelling of the Cherokee words for "Land of Blue Smoke."

Adventurer Steve Fossett vanished 13 months ago after taking off from a Nevada airstrip. [Reuters]

ABC news Updated October 3, 2008

Authorities in the US say human remains have been found in the wreckage of the small plane of wealthy adventurer Steve Fossett in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

Mr Fossett vanished 13 months ago after taking off from a Nevada airstrip.

The search for his plane resumed yesterday after a hiker found the adventurer's pilot's license and other I-D near Yosemite National Park.

By Bob Pennell, (Medford, Ore.)

By Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

The cost of fighting summer wildfires in California and the West has forced U.S. Forest Service officials to slash more than $400 million in spending, causing closures of some campgrounds and limiting access to some forests.
While the number of fires and acreage involved is down, the amount spent to contain those fires is up. That's because the cost of fighting fires varies depending on where the fires are burning, said Forest Service spokeswoman Donna Drelick.

The Forest Service cut $200 million in 2006 and $100 million in 2007 to cover wildfire costs, the agency's budget documents show. Forest Service administrators say the reductions will have a broad impact across the country:

• In Vermont and other northeast sites hit by heavy rains, washed-out trails and bridges aren't being repaired, and campgrounds are being closed, said Kristi Ponozzo, spokeswoman for the Green Mountain National Forest.

• In Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia and Arkansas, road and trail maintenance will be halted or delayed, limiting access into forest areas and increasing the amount of sediment washed into lakes, rivers and reservoirs, said Mike D'Aquino of the U.S. Forest Service in Georgia.

• In Montana, research about how wildfires behave, conducted in partnership with the University of Montana, is being cut, said Dave Tippets, a spokesman for the service's 14-state Rocky Mountain Research Station.

G. Sam Foster, head of the Rocky Mountain Research Station, said the cuts will impact research into the pine bark beetle epidemic in the Rockies. Rangers will close campgrounds and declare some roads and trails off-limits because of the danger of dead, falling trees, he said.

"The impacts will be far reaching and will affect all parts of the Forest Service's budget, making it hard for the agency to accomplish much beyond the most minimal aspects of its many responsibilities," said Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Chris Lancette, a spokesman for the Wilderness Society, urged the Forest Service and Congress to consider creating a firefighting account structured in the way Congress funds hurricane and other disaster-recovery projects. Udall said he supports that idea.

As of Sept. 14, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 67,269 fires had burned 4.67 million acres this year. This year, the Forest Service expects to spend $1.6 billion containing wildfires.

Hughes reports for the Fort Collins Coloradoan

Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times

By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: September 29, 2008

MIAMI — The eight-year-old, multibillion-dollar effort to rescue the Everglades has failed to halt the wetlands’ decline because of bureaucratic delays, a lack of financing from Congress and overdevelopment, according to a new report.

The 287-page study by the National Research Council, a biennial review required by Congress, warned that South Florida’s stunning river of grass was quickly reaching a point of no return. Without “near term progress,” the report said, more species will die off “and the Everglades ecosystem may experience irreversible losses to its character and functioning.”

William L. Graf, chairman of the committee that wrote the report, put it more simply. “There is no other place like this,” Mr. Graf said. “It’s existed for 5,000 years this way, and we’re in danger of losing it for our kids and their kids.”

The harsh review of the federal effort, known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP, comes in the midst of what could be a major shake-up. Florida is negotiating a proposed $1.75 billion purchase of nearly 300 square miles of farmland from the United States Sugar Corporation to add storage space for millions of gallons of water south of Lake Okeechobee.

The plan, which is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, was praised by the National Research Council. But with the acquisition’s impact at least a decade away, the report’s authors concluded that it would not be a panacea.

“The bottom line,” said Mr. Graf, a professor of geology at the University of South Carolina, “is I don’t think we can wait and see what happens.”

He emphasized that there were larger problems that needed to be fixed. Money remains the most obvious. The restoration plan, finalized in 2000, made the federal government and Florida equal partners, but Congress has failed to match the state’s commitment of more than $2 billion.

Behind the shortfall, the report found, is a planning and appropriations process that requires the Army Corps of Engineers to show the benefits of each project individually, making it difficult to get money for the interconnected plumbing and environmental components of the Everglades effort.

Mr. Graf said progress could be forthcoming because the corps and Congress seemed open to rewriting the rules so projects could be clustered. And an amendment in the stopgap spending measure the House passed last week could, 19 years after Congress approved it, create a $225 million, one-mile bridge on the Tamiami Trail to let water flow south toward Florida Bay, alleviating a significant clog.

According to the National Park Service, Saturday, September 27 is a free day. No standard fees will be collected in honor of National Public Lands Day.

Other national agencies under the Department of the Interior also not charging fees on that day include U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Adventure-Crew strongly suggests calling ahead to your National Lands destination before making plans around particular camp sites, parks, recreational areas and monuments.

Get out there and hike on your favorite trail, or try a new one.

Editor

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Southeast Region
Parks Prepare For Hurricane Ike

South Florida parks are closed today as Hurricane Ike passes by to the south, while Gulf Coast parks are keeping a close eye on its forecast path:

Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP – Dry Tortugas closed yesterday and will remain closed today. Most employees have already evacuated to Orlando, where they are expected to remain through Wednesday. Four employees remain at Fort Jefferson to await passage of the storm.

The M/V Fort Jefferson moved yesterday to safe harbor in the Miami River. Gulf Coast Visitor Center at Everglades closed at noon yesterday, Shark Valley closed at 3:30 p.m., and Flamingo remained closed. At the time of the report yesterday, the main park road was closed from Mahogany Hammock to all points south. Staff from Flamingo, Key Largo and Gulf Coast completed evacuations late yesterday. All areas of the park will be closed to visitation today.

The Ernest Coe Visitor Center will continue to be staffed solely as a contact station for wayward visitors.


Biscayne NP – Preparations continue for Ike. The park shutdown at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Big Cypress – The park remains open, but storm monitoring continues.
Parks in Mississippi and Louisiana are monitoring Ike’s path, which is currently on a track toward Louisiana and Texas. Gulf Islands is preparing for a possible storm surge emanating from Cuba.  The Western IMT concluded Hurricane Gustav recovery operations in the Mississippi District yesterday.
[Submitted by Larry Perez, EVER; Saudia Muwwakkil, SERO]