Outdoor & National Park News

The Way In: The Future of Access to our National Parks (photo)

Stu Marks — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:55:38 GMT

This article strikes home to me because I was born and raised in Oregon. My summers as a youth were spent leaving behind waffle stomper tread marks on the dusty and muddy trails of Diamond Lake, Lake of the Woods, Emigrant Lake, Howard Prairie, The Applegate River, the Rogue, as well as playing in the snow of Mount Ashland, and beach combing near Harris Beach and Gold Beach.

My seventy-nine-year-old mother now lives virtually in the shadow of what used to be Mount St Helens which isn’t too far from the northern reaches of the national parks of the Cascades in Northern Washington of which this article is referring.

Regular readers of this forum might remember that I have stated often my favorite places include Southern Oregon and Northern California’s beaches and the grand coastal redwoods and the river glades they overlook. I am very accustomed to tramping through forests and grew up knowing that I was blessed to have been born and raised where I was, in North America’s great northwest region.

But, traipsing through the woods is not only mine or my Oregon, California and Washington neighbors to enjoy. This is a right that belongs to all reasonably responsible Americans, and beyond.

All though I feel that we are all a little spoiled in getting around in our cars to within yards of a trail head, to not have this relative luxury would leave most of the national parks of the great northwest pretty much isolated from any of the citizens for whom they are reserved. And, what about fire fighting and regular maintenance? Thus my feelings.

If the national park service can not find the funds to keep the roads open at any price, then what good is our national park service? They become nothing more than zoo keepers. The park becomes little more than a giant zoo which is perpetually closed to the public; a condition that many would probably not mind.

One of the problems with this, beyond the obvious one that public lands without any public on them is rather obtuse, is that the national parks charter specifically states that the whole reason the parks were set aside was "...for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

I therefore put forth the idea that funds be taken from whatever areas they are currently serving to properly fulfill the high priority of road and trail maintenance. Obviously, some sort of oversight committee or board must make that decision, but someone is certainly not making that decision now. They should, and soon.

Roads and trails are not merely bothersome and labor intensive projects meant for the pesky lookie-loos who stumble through the government land. They are Prime Directive One.

Stu Marks
Editor

The Way In: The Future of Access to our National Parks

Remember the floods and windstorms of late 2006 that wiped out trails and washed out access roads to national parks and forests throughout the Cascades and Olympics? They were just the latest storm events to ravage Washington's public lands. And they likely won't be the last.

The washout on the Dosewallips River Road. By John Woolley.

The Carbon River road, the Dosewallips road, the Icicle River road, the Suiattle... Currently, there are major access roads washed out into Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, the Wenatchee National Forest, the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, and more of our public lands. Many of these roads are not slated to be repaired due to the high cost of repairing them and the likelihood they'll just wash out again. What does this mean for hikers, and our future access to the places we love?

Washington Trails Association is co-hosting a panel discussion with several other groups on fierce weather patterns and global climate change, and how these will affect access and enjoyment of our state's national parks and forests. A key issue is how the federal government can best sustain long-term access to these places that make sense from an economic and ecological standpoint.

This panel will be open to the public and will include experts in climate change, outdoor recreation, economics, wildlife, and road and trail construction, among others. Click here for more info and a list of the panelists. Or call (206) 903-1444 x25.

Event Details:
Sept 03, 2008, 6 - 9 pm
University of Washington Kane Hall, Room 110

Olympic park page
North Cascades park page
Mount Rainier park page

This event is co-hosted by organizations from the Washington Parks and Forest Coalition, which include the National Parks Conservation Association, Washington Trails Association, the Student Conservation Association, and Washington's National Park Fund. The event is made possible by a grant from Boeing.

Posted by Lauren Braden at August 28, 2008 9:08 a.m.

From The SeattlePI.com

GPS and the National Park System

Stu Marks — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:11:43 GMT

By Linda Hanney, August 25, 2008, Linda's Backroad Musings, From the Citizen Journalism Academy

Sherlock Holmes and I have something in common.

A magnifying glass as a tool to solve mysteries.

My mysteries are not literary. Gathering clues from state brochures, welcome center hosts, local residents, friends and of course internet web sites, I then use a magnifying glass on a map. (Does anyone else have trouble seeing a map?) This is my way of solving how to navigate through a state using the best scenic routes.

As much as I love electronics, so far no GPS.

Recently, I read on one of my favorite blog sites, National Park Traveler, in select national parks for $15 a day, you may rent a GPS gadget that you place on the dash. As you reach a certain location, it will present an interpretative of your surroundings. While this might not be much different than CDs available at many National Parks, Kurt Repanshek feels it has the potential to be much more popular perhaps even to the point of eliminating the give and take of human interaction.

Repanshek, a former AP journalist and now freelance writer, writes in a blog post September 27, 2007, “is the relevance of our national parks dangling on the future of where technology takes us?”

National Park Rangers are highly trained and knowledgeable about the area they serve. Their presentations are well prepared. Most importantly, they answer questions. The interaction is invaluable. As far as I am concerned, a visit to a National Park, including our National historic fort sites in Kansas, is not complete without a presentation by a ranger followed by questions and answers.

Repanshek addressed this subject again several days ago when he posted “Another look at those GPS Rangers in National Parks.” He admitted they have proven to be beneficial. Rangers can see where the traffic in the parks is heaviest, directing people to other sites. Many parks are cutting ranger positions and the electronic devices are filling the gap. Importantly, they include tours in American Sign Language.

Kurt Repanshek again hints at his feelings when he ends his most recent post with, “Is this a good move for the National Park System?”

Granted, it appears the interpretative GPS unit is a beneficial tool. On the other hand, I want to listen to a real person who has answers to my questions and stories to tell. I think it would be a mistake for the National Park Service to allow GPS gadgets to replace our National Park Rangers.

I think Sherlock would agree, is always good ask questions to better magnify a mystery.

National Park Portal

Florida Man's Shoe Found in Stomach of Slain Black Bear [follow-up]

Stu Marks — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:56:38 GMT

Monday, August 18, 2008, Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities cut open a slain bear and found a shoe lost by a Florida man while fighting off a bear that attacked his 8-year-old son in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The footwear was discovered in the black bear's stomach during a necropsy at the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center, Smokies spokeswoman Nancy Gray said Monday.

It leaves little doubt rangers killed the right bear.

John Pala, a 43-year-old health insurance salesman from Boca Raton with no backwoods experience, literally ran out of his shoes racing to the aid of his young son Evan when the bear pounced on the boy during a day hike Aug. 11 along the popular Rainbow Falls trail.

Twice, Pala grabbed the young male bear's face, pulled its mouth apart and pushed the 86-pound animal away before Evan finally escaped.

Then Pala and Evan's 10-year-old brother Alex pelted the bear with sticks and stones until they could slowly back away and run to join Evan in a parking lot where they left their car.

Pala could hardly walk the next day because of the beating taken by his bare feet. Evan had bruises on his back, stitches in his arms and staples on his scalp, but otherwise OK. Alex was unhurt.

Rangers killed the suspected bear a few hours later in the same place where the Pala family was attacked. They shot the animal when it charged them. One of Pala's shoes was found nearby.

Pala, now home, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that rangers called him Friday to say they'd found his other shoe "inside the bear's stomach." The boys "really got a kick to hear that," he wrote.

He doesn't expect to see the shoe again. "I don't think there is much left of the shoe to send back," he said.

But Evan has hopes for his own memento. "They do have the bloody Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt that Evan had on and plan to send that back," Pala said.

Gray said the necropsy results were still preliminary, but it confirmed the bear did not have rabies.

Authorities say the attack was unprovoked, though Pala said their clothes might have smelled like fried chicken from a meal an hour earlier.

"The three of us are going to be fine," Pala wrote. "Evan, of course, will take a longer bit, but has only stitches to overcome, fortunately none on his beautiful face. The attention the media has provided him has been very therapeutic for him mentally. Not to mention making him quite a little star with his friends."

This was only the eighth bear attack in the past decade on a visitor to the Great Smokies, which is home to about 1,600 black bears and receives more than 9 million visitors annually. However, the attacks included one fatality in 2000.

Smokys park page

Rescuers Searching Grand Canyon [photo]

Stu Marks — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:16:00 GMT

The search for people missing in the Grand Canyon after heavy rain caused a dam to burst is set to start again. from SkyNews

Stranded rafter is airlifted to safety across Colorado River

Some individuals who were believed to be in the canyon at the time of the flooding are still unaccounted for, according to the park service.

Up to 400 people have been airlifted to the top of the canyon from the Indian tribal village of Supai, north of Phoenix, after the Redlands Dam broke.

Most of the evacuees are members of the Havasupai tribe who are now being cared for at a Red Cross shelter set up at Peach Springs, around 60 miles south west of their village.

Hiking trails and footbridges were washed away and trees were ripped from the ground after the dam breach.

A Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman said the burst dam had caused extensive flooding in Supai but had not caused major damage.

Around 75 campers were also rescued from the flooding, which followed two days of torrential rain in the region.

Cedar Hemmings was among a group who returned from a hike to where they had tied their rafts and found that a flash flood had left them stranded.

"We were basically stuck up the canyon without our rafts," he said.

"We had no supplies, no food and very little water, we lost everything."

Supai is one of the most remote towns in the United States and is inaccessible by road.

The only way into the town is by hiking over rugged wilderness or by air.

Grand Canyon park page

Boy survives bear attack [photo]

Stu Marks — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:41:00 GMT

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
The Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. | An 8-year-old Florida boy scrambled up a creek embankment ahead of his father and older brother on a day hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That’s when he confronted an 86-pound male black bear.

AP photo

“The bear was staring at me,” Evan Pala of Boca Raton said in an interview Tuesday. “Then he just stood up (on his hind legs) and jumped on me. Before he even got me I called, ‘Bear!’ ”

The bear mauled Evan on Monday evening, grabbing the boy with his mouth and tossing him about like a rag doll in only the eighth bear attack on a visitor to the Great Smokies in the past decade.

John Pala, a 43-year-old health insurance salesman with no backwoods experience, twice pulled the bear off his son before he and Evan’s 10-year-old brother Alex pummeled it with rocks and sticks, and then ran for safety.

Park rangers caught a young bear soon afterward in the same area and killed it when it charged them. Smokies spokeswoman Nancy Gray said rangers were sure it was the same bear.

Evan and his father, who suffered minor cuts on his right hand and bruises on his feet when he lost his shoes in the melee, were released from a hospital early Tuesday.

“To see my little brother bleeding … was scary. I should have seen that big bear coming,” Alex said.

Park officials said the attack along the popular Rainbow Falls trail was unprovoked. In most cases, bears attack people while trying to poach their food, but none was present during the attack Monday. John Pala said their clothes might have smelled like fried chicken from a meal an hour earlier.

Evan had scampered ahead of his dad and brother when John heard the scream and raced ahead. The bear already was on top of the boy. John said he grabbed the bear’s face and pulled its mouth apart, pushing it away from his son.

Evan tried to run away and fell. The bear again pounced on the boy, and his father again pulled the bear off. As Evan fled, John and Alex threw sticks and stones at the animal. The bear didn’t move.

So John and Alex slowly backed away. When they were about 20 feet from the bear, “we hightailed it out of there” and reached Evan at the parking lot where they left their car.

“This is so rare,” said Lynn Rogers, director of the North American Bear Center.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park page

How to avoid a bear attack

Updated photos show before and after of the fallen Wall Arch

Stu Marks — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:07:00 GMT

National Geographic posted photos today showing the remains of fallen Wall Arch in Arches National Park on the Devils Garden Trail .

This event, which Adventure-Space reported on August 10 , was the second reported arch fall in about seventeen years; the first being when Landscape Arch dropped several tons of rock, witnessed and photographed by a park visitor.

See National Geographic's before and after photos here.

Arches National Park page

Snake researcher scours Collier-Seminole State Park for non-native pythons

accorie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:33:36 GMT

Courtesy NPS

We brought you an article earlier in the year about this issue. (Python Snakes, An Invasive Species In Florida, Could Spread To One Third Of US) It appears that the plot thickens and we could be in for scarier times than we thought. I don’t know about you, but coming across a 20-foot long adult python while hiking in the back country is not my idea of a fun time.

By ERIC STAATS (Contact)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Marconews.com

The snake hunter shakes his head as he crouches over a sandy trail that pushes through Collier-Seminole State Park.

Hoping to spy subtle signs of his slithering prey, Paul Andreadis instead finds only pebble-sized pockmarks left by raindrops overnight and maybe tracks left by a deer, probably that morning.

“No, nothing here,” said Andreadis, a snake researcher visiting Collier-Seminole last week from Denison University, located near Columbus, Ohio.

Andreadis stands up and, from behind the mosquito netting hanging from the brim of his wide-brimmed hat, sets his sights on the trail ahead.

He knows Burmese pythons are out there; a half-dozen of the non-native reptiles have been spotted since 2003 at the state park along U.S. 41 East as they have spread west from a stronghold in the Everglades.

The question scientists are trying to answer is whether Collier-Seminole has a breeding population of the big, fat predators.

“If we do, we’ve got a fight ahead of us,” park biologist Maulik “Mo” Patel said.

Snakes alive

The fight already is on at Everglades National Park, where the first python was found dead on U.S. 41 in 1979. The first baby python was found in 1995, and rangers found the first nest of python eggs beneath an overturned wheelbarrow in 2006.

Based on the density of Burmese python populations at a national park in India, researchers estimate there could be at least 30,000 pythons crawling around the park.

The invasion is thought to have begun with the release of unwanted pet pythons into the wild. Baby pythons measure 20 inches long, but within a year reach lengths of 5 feet. Full-grown pythons come in at 20 feet or more and can weigh 200 pounds.

Their voracious appetites make them a threat to the South Florida food chain, which isn’t built with a link for non-native pythons.

They have been known to feed on everything from bobcats to birds. The discovery of a python that had burst open after swallowing an American alligator, removed from the endangered species list in 1987, raised the concerns to a new level.

Key to fighting back against the pythons is learning more about their habits, scientists say.

They have implanted radio tracking devices in 17 pythons and re-released them into Everglades National Park to try to discover their hangouts.

With that knowledge, scientists can lay traps to catch even more of them.

Scientists also are experimenting with chemical attractants and are using a beagle, nicknamed Python Pete, to ferret out the sneaky beasts.

Out of hiding

The first python sighting at Collier-Seminole, near the park entrance in 2003, coincided with an upswing in the numbers of pythons taken out of Everglades National Park, according to Interior Department figures.

What started out as a dozen or so a year in the 1990s ticked above 50 in 2003 and soared to 250 in 2007, figures show.

The sightings at Collier-Seminole have been clustered along the park’s western edge, where a canal, a tall berm and plenty of Brazilian pepper make for prime python habitat.

One was found as it tried to escape a prescribed burn at the park; rangers spotted two adult pythons crossing the bottom of a dried up canal but were unable to pin it down. A mower got it later, park biologist Patel said.

In April, firefighters plucked an 8-foot python out of the rafters at a hangar at Marco Island Executive Airport.

Pythons usually aren’t so obvious.

“The whole lifestyle of a snake is built around being secretive,” Andreadis said.

Pythons are more likely to be found during the winter, when cooler weather chases them out of their hiding places to bask in the sun.

Sightings are at their lowest in July and August, according to records from Everglades National Park, but Andreadis hoped to even the odds by driving the roads in and around the park overnight.

But if there are baby pythons to be found at Collier-Seminole, early August is a good time to find them, he said. That’s because pythons hatch between late June and August from nests where mother pythons have been coiled around clutches of between 30 and 50 eggs.

Nesting sites in Collier-Seminole might be susceptible to summertime flooding, which would explain why rangers have found no signs of a breeding population, Andreadis said.

Still waiting

A pig frog snorts as Andreadis wades waist-deep into an overflowed canal at the state park and disappears behind a wall of tall grass.

A few minutes later, he climbs back into view over a nearby berm. No python.

“You’d be surprised how well a 15-foot snake can hide, squirreled away in the vegetation,” Andreadis said earlier.

Andreadis, who calls himself a “bona fide science geek,” has been waiting 20 years to come face-to-face with an adult python in the wild.

As a graduate student at the University of Florida, Andreadis had planned to study Burmese pythons in their native habitat in India, but the trip was canceled amid political turmoil.

So the 1,200-mile drive from central Ohio to South Florida is part nostalgia, part unfinished business trip for Andreadis.

Scientists might never be able to call off the hunt for pythons in South Florida.

“The price we pay may be eternal vigilance,” Andreadis said.

Stone Arch in Arches National Park Falls

Stu Marks — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:14:00 GMT

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, MOAB, UTAH
New York Times

One of the largest and most photographed stone arches in Arches National Park in the U.S. has collapsed.

1997 Wall Arch photo from billandcori.com.

SEE PHOTOS FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HERE

Wall Arch fell sometime late Monday (8/4/08) or early Tuesday, though no one has reported seeing it collapse, said Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation.

He said the arch, located along the popular Devils Garden Trail, was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy other arches in the park: gravity and erosion.

"They all let go after a while," he said Friday. Nevertheless, it was the first collapse major arch in the park since nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991.

For years, Wall Arch had been a favorite stopping point for photographers. Like others, it was formed by entrada sandstone being whittled over time into its distinctive formation.

Measuring more than 33 feet (10 meters) tall and 71 feet (22 meters) across, Wall Arch ranked 12th in size among the park's estimated 2,000 arches. It was first reported and named in 1948.

Rock fall from the remaining arms of the arch has forced the closure of a portion of the trail. Henderson said it would reopen when it was deemed safe and debris had been cleared.

Officials from the National Park Service and the Utah Geological Survey visited the site Thursday, noting stress fractures in the remaining formation.

-->

Weapons of Grass Destruction Operate Near NYC Bridge

Stu Marks — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:04:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) _ It was a report calculated to send chills through those charged with anti-terrorist vigilance in New York City: Bearded intruders secretly penetrate heavily guarded transportation site.

But it turned out the would-be trespassers were goats imported by the National Park Service to clean up poison ivy and other unwanted weeds at historic Fort Wadsworth, a 200-year-old Revolutionary War rampart on Staten Island near the Verrazano Bridge.

Brian Feeney, a park service spokesman, said the goats are brought down yearly from a farm near Rhinebeck, N.Y., and escaped about two weeks ago.

According to officials, [ more ]

Survey finds new species in national park in N.C.

accorie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:44:00 GMT

Photo by Stu Marks

Another reason to love the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (The photo shows some of the great plant life found, not a new species.)

By The Associated PressTuesday, July 22, 2008

The Times and Democrat.com

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - A 10-year study has found more than 6,000 species of plant and animal life previously unidentified in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Tuesday the All Taxa Biodiversity Project also discovered nearly 900 species that are new to science.

The results of the study were discussed Monday during a Senate subcommittee field hearing in Asheville.

The project began in 1997 to inventory all species in the park which covers more than 800 square miles in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. More than 1,000 scientists have studied species in the park, identifying a total of more than 16,000.

Peter White, a biology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the park is “a hot spot of biodiversity.”

The survey can help educate the public in the importance of preserving natural species, the panelists said.

“I think we’re in an era right now where young people especially need to feel inspired by biodiversity and the environment around them and stewardship about their community,” said Tim Watkins of the National Geographic Society.

Information collected in the survey will help create a baseline of data that can be used to manage the park and help prevent future threats as well as be used in the classroom.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and a member of the subcommittee on national parks, said the survey isn’t just about visitors’ experience in the park.

“It’s about the preservation of species, and as we see in the first big phase of this project, we are learning things we didn’t ever envision we’d learn, and I think that’s always proven to be invaluable in more ways than in just tourism aspects,” Burr said.

What happened to Global Warming?

Stu Marks — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:37:00 GMT

More and more stories are popping up regarding the actual cooling temperatures that are occurring this summer.

The following story was posted today from the Grand Rapids Press

Hiking in Mount Rainier National Park this summer features unusual conditions after 950 inches of snow fell last winter. Those taking a trip up the mountain have had to adjust to the snow-covered meadows.
PRESS PHOTO BY HOWARD MEYERSON

Snow greets visiting hikers at Mount Rainier

PARADISE, Wash. -- Cool ocean temperatures in the southern Pacific Ocean -- a phenomenon known as La Nina -- chilled sunny expectations this summer for thousands of visitors to Mount Rainier National Park.

Those who arrived here in July planning to backpack or hike its famous sub-alpine wildflower meadows found snow instead, six feet in places, though sunny daytime temperatures reach into the 70s.

The popular mountain that draws 1.5 million visitors each year received 950 inches of snow last winter, 300 inches more than its 650-inch average. Park officials said a cooler than usual spring also pushed back the thaw.

"A lot of people were disappointed to [ more ]

Mt Rainier Park Page

Sending the wrong message about recreation

accorie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:01:00 GMT

Seems like he might have a point.

By CRAIG MEDRED ; McClatchy

Newspapers Published: July 23rd, 2008 11:57 AM | Updated: July 23rd, 2008 11:57

the News Tribune .com

AMANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Americans are losing touch with the land, and The Economist magazine now contends a significant part of the problem rests with today's environmental community.

Noting a lawsuit by Friends of Yosemite Valley that could force the National Park Service to limit visitation to the California park, the July 12-18 edition of the British-based global publication observes that "America's environmental movement emerged in the 19th century to push for national parks. In the 20th century, it sold them through photographs and writing. It now seems bent on driving people away from them."

That might be taking things a tad too far - or not far enough.

Yes, some in the environmental community believe the answer to all problems is to keep the public away. If a trail gets so much traffic the trail bed begins to disintegrate, the knee-jerk reaction is to close the route instead of hardening it with gravel or decking so it will not only continue to support current users but encourage more of them.

And yes, there has developed an unholy alliance between do-nothing bureaucrats and environmentalists who want even the most benign of outdoor recreation projects saddled with endless studies. How long have plans for a hut-to-hut hiking system in Alaska been delayed now anyway?

Could it really be a decade?

The Economist sums up this problem well when it observes that "it is not clear to everyone in the National Park Service that the lack of visitors is a problem ... Some rangers, indeed, seem to view visitors as an impediment to the smooth running of the parks."

Ditto for many other land managers-be they federal, state or sometimes even local.

Look no further than Far North Bicentennial Park where mountain biker Petra Davis was recently mauled by a grizzly bear. Has the reaction to that tragic incident been the opening of a public discussion on how the trails in the park might be made safer for the people who use this grizzly-thick area in the summer?

No. The reaction to the mauling has been simply to post signs advising people not to use trails in the park.

All too often, this is the take-home message for Americans as regards our public lands:

"Don't go in the woods; it's dangerous."

But this is only part of the problem.

There is something else going on here, and The Economist misses it.

It's not so-called curse of the Internet either. As an information junkie, I got heavily hooked on the Internet early on. I'm an addict now, but that hasn't discouraged me from venturing outdoors.

"Like many things that go wrong in America, the drift away from nature is commonly blamed on the television, video and the Internet," observes The Economist. "This is implausible. The number of park visitors rose steeply between the 1950s and the mid-1980s, even as the first two electronic lures spread."

I couldn't agree more. But if it's not the Internet keeping people away, what is?

Well, how about that simplest of all limiting factors? Cost.

It used to be that outdoor recreation was something for people of modest means. Gas was cheap. Campgrounds were free. Fishing licenses cost little.

Government used to treat outdoor recreation as a good investment in creating a healthier society both physically and psychologically. Taxpayer dollars were invested in infrastructure-trails and campgrounds-encouraging people to get out.

So what happened in the mid-1980s? "Infrastructure" became a dirty word in the environmental community just about the same time fiscal conservatives decided that people who use the public lands should pay for their recreation.

Thus were born "user fees," without much thought about how maybe the tiny subsidies that were supporting parks and recreation areas might actually be paying us all back by getting portly Americans up, out and moving. I admit to a prejudice here. I worry that the American health care system is about to be crushed under a load of aging American blubber.

Perhaps a better investment all around would be to spend money encouraging people to do that which makes them healthier, but we've gone the opposite route.

We're pricing Americans out of nature.

Want to go fishing for salmon at the Russian River in Alaska?

-Fishing gear, $100.

-Alaska resident sport fishing license, $24.

-Russian River parking fee, $11.

-Gas to get to the river and back, $25 to $45.

-Total, $160 to $180.

Going to the movie suddenly looks like a bargain.

If you grew up fishing, of course, you probably know you don't need a $100 fishing outfit to catch salmon on the Russian. You could forego the hip boots, fish with a junker rod and reel, and cut that part of the cost down.

But how many people in this day and age grew up fishing? How many of them have any idea that outdoor recreation should be something available to people of limited means?

The specialty publications of our time certainly don't encourage that idea. Back in the day, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Field & Stream and the like were largely about outdoor recreation for the everyman.

No more. General-interest outdoor publications have largely followed the niche publications-Outside magazine, Backpacker, Fly Fisherman, Mountain Biking-upscale.

There is a lot of writing about expensive gear, and a lot of advertising of the same disguised in the form of product "reviews." The overall impression? Outdoor recreation is expensive.

Just to go for a hike on the edge of Anchorage might require a $100 pair of "trail shoes;" a $75 day pack; a Gore-Tex top and pants or equivalent, $200; another $100 worth of fleece; and who knows what else a salesperson at REI might tell you is vital - $10 water bottles, $30 first-aid and survival kits; $80 water-purifying pumps, $300 GPS satellite tracking device so you don't get lost, etc., etc., etc.

Some people might suggest it would be dangerous to hike up Flattop Mountain without this stuff.

We wonder why 21st century Americans, most of whom are born and reared in urban areas, aren't getting out in nature?

Maybe it's time we look at the messages they are getting sent out about getting out in nature:

It's costly; it's dangerous; and many of the people now out there don't want company.

Yellowstone Open for Business, Sour Grapes Start Squeezing from "the Press"

Stu Marks — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:23:00 GMT

The arrogance exhibited by many who have voiced their sour grapes opposition to the recent announcement of Yellowstone keeping the eastern entrance open is glaring.

As Jim Drinkard writes for the AP, “The cost to taxpayers could run into the millions of dollars for a decision to accommodate a small number of tourists.” This statement alone reeks of backwards, wrong thinking. It completely ignores the mission of the National Park Service, and the main reason tax payers continue to pay for the luxury of protecting our national resources.

Yellowstone’s Sylvan Pass being cleared in the 07/08 winter. (Photo from NPS)

Are we to assume that every cost or program that the NPS expends is only justified if the benefit is enjoyed by a minimum number that must be in the millions? For whom is each gateway open if not first for the local businesses and citizens?

And, all though the title of his story, “White House reverses experts on Yellowstone policy” may not have been created by the author, it too is flawed. We are to assume that the so-called experts working for the NPS antiseptically arrived at their decision to destroy the economy of the tax payers geographically closest to the east entrance of Yellowstone because it was the best decision for the park. There is so much wrong with that way of thinking it is ridiculous.

Looking north east through Slyvan Pass

Ever since I was a child, growing up playing on the state park beaches, rivers and redwood groves of the northwest region of the US, the constant attitude I have read and heard from several who are employed in the upper ranks of the BLM, the Forest Service and the NPS is one of complete arrogance and contempt for the public they serve. Sometimes even a dose of irresponsible ignorance could be added to that as proven in the watershed battle in the Klamath region. Decisions there made by BLM directors in Southern Oregon and Northern California starting in the 80's through 2004 ended up destroying more than an entire season of grasses, shrubs fish and wildlife under the guise of "protecting the natural resources from commercial interests." It wasn't until a landmark statement from the National Academy of Sciences siting that officials responsoble for "shutting off the spigot" to local farmers were also responsible for the results that ensued.

While in high school, I dated a couple of girls (not at the same time) and got to know their dads, Mr. Collins and Mr. Wheeler, who worked for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. And, while working for Adventure-Crew I have had the opportunity to interview some rangers. Most of the rank and file rangers and officers with whom I have come in personal contact are not this way but, the decisions and posted statements that come from administrative offices are overwhelmingly made by those who lost or never had true perspective of their place and purpose.

Facilitating our resources for the masses is job one. If there are not hundreds or thousands of tax payers and other visitors entering the parks as often as possible, we might as well just do away with the park service all together. They will not be needed.

The AP story from July 24, 2008
Montana TV Station story from June 5, 2008
Yellowstone Park Page

Rip Current takes a young life on Lake Michigan

Stu Marks — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT

On Saturday, July 12, we got up at about 4:30am to beat everyone to the communal showers in the Indiana State camp ground after a somewhat hot and humid night spent in our two-person tent.

We pulled up stakes, left the camp ground and drove the short trip to IHoP for a pancake breakfast. At around 9am we were on the beach and shooting pictures. We spent the rest of the day looking for wildlife on Beverly Drive and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and climbing Mount Baldy, enjoying the view. We then drove the two hours home, south of Chicago.

All of this mundaneness is just to set the stage for what followed on Sunday.

Unknown to us on the next day while we were in church, three young friends struggled to stay alive in a battle with a deadly rip current on the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. One friend swam to safety, barely making it out alive, another was rescued by some others nearby, but the third, DaVante Jackson, 14 went under the waves and his body didn’t turn up for several days.

A diver returns to shore during a search Monday, July 14, for DaVante Jackson, who disappeared while swimming Sunday along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore near Chesterton. The body of the 14-year-old Chicago Heights teen was recovered Wednesday from Lake Michigan. Officials say he likely drowned after being caught in a suspected rip current. (Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi / July 14, 2008)

The rip current that took young Jackson’s life isn’t a new occurance. All though better known on ocean beaches like the southern Oregon coast where I grew up near Harris Beach State Park located in Brookings, these unpredictable beach backwashes are blamed for a handful of deaths each year. And, many are still unaware that the Great Lakes can be a deadly place to play on the beach if one is unaware.

I remember back as early as the age of about six or seven years old being warned not to enter the surf alone. Being the young boy I was, that warning didn’t stop me from testing the waters. I remember the exciting experience of standing in the very edge of the surf; not quite in the ocean—not quite completely on land, as the waves rolled in and then rushed past my small feet on the return trip back into the rough Oregon ocean; the sand under my feet being ripped out from under me, making it hard to stay vertical.

Before my big sisters could manage to drag me back onto dry sand, I remember wondering if I had just experienced the “rip tide” about which I had just been warned a few minutes earlier.

That is my first remembrance of a rip current as it impacted my life. Last Sunday’s death is the first time that I have been even remotely affected by rip currents since my child hood. We just don’t hear of deaths from rip tides and rip currents, mostly because they are not news making material like a drug related murder, or a viscious knife attack in a civil violence case. The only reason I learned of that recent, unfortunate weekend event involving a death was because of our common practice of conducting constant search engine results for any news stories containing the words “national park”. The story didn’t make it to the bulk of the national news lines as it should to provide proper warnings to the next batch of beach goers.

None the less, we need to make sure that young folks learn about these often occurring and deadly currents. Sixty drownings and near drownings have been recorded in recent years along lake shores in the US, according to the linked story. [ more ]

Indiana Dunes Park Page

Bear Attack Causes Two Campgrounds to Close in Yellowstone

Stu Marks — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:17:00 GMT

According to several news sources, two Montana campgrounds were closed after a bear bit and clawed a camper while he was sleeping in his tent early on Thursday (7-17).

The camper has bite and claw marks on his arms and is being hospitalized. If park officials and wildlife management capture the bear, they will most likely move it to a more remote region of the park.

The two campgrounds are located near the northeast entrance to Yellowstone, within the Gallatin National Forest. Adventure-Crew strongly urges campers and hikers to check with the local rangers before engaging in outdoor activities in that area.

Yellowstone Contact Info

Cormorants are being tracked, studied at Voyageurs Park

accorie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:14:00 GMT

Boy, the controversy over this one is huge! The few comments left on the original article were pretty severe against the cormorants. The authors wanted them all exterminated. Their points seem valid-the cormorants are eating all the fish and ruining the fishing tourism and the town’s livelihoods. The advocates for the cormorants say that it isn’t true that the cormorants eat all the fish and destroy habitats. They say the birds eat mostly alewife, yellow perch, gizzard and round gobies, mostly undesirable fish. In Canada the birds are treated as a nonnative species when in fact, the birds have been seen in the Great Lakes as early as the late 1800’s. Their numbers decreased in the 1950-1960’s due to the use of DDT, but they have been making a slow recovery back to numbers that are large, but not near as large as what was seen in the early last century. Scientific studies are being conducted in the US to determine the effect these birds are having (if any) on the environment. According to Cormorant Defenders International, the Canadian government is not using science to decide what to do about the birds. They have strong supporters for eliminating them.

Photo from zoocheck.com

Last update: July 14, 2008 - 10:55 PM

StarTribune.com

Researchers in Voyageurs National Park are studying double-crested cormorants.

The fish-eating bird's population has gone from threatened to booming in just two decades.

Radio transmitters are being used on the birds to find out where they eat, how many spend the summer on Lake Kabetogama and how they fit in the park's ecosystem.

Cormorants had been in the region for centuries, but they were mostly wiped out by the 1950s. The chemical DDT, along with being threatened by commercial fishermen and hunters, led to their decline.

But then cormorants gained protection under a federal migratory bird treaty and made a comeback. Some say there are now too many that are fouling the islands and eating fish that anglers are after.

Rabies Detected In Bat At Olympic National Park

accorie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:11:00 GMT

Since this is a potentially serious threat, I wanted to post the link to this copywritten article so you will all be aware. It gives some good advice that should be used in any park.

Read more here...

Whippoorwill in concert July 19 at Kings Mountain National Park

accorie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:04:00 GMT

The Kings Mountain National Military Park is in South Carolina on Hwy. 216, ten miles from Kings Mountain, SC. They have a museum that showcases the Revolutionary War battle that lasted only one hour. You can also hike, camp and horseback ride. It is 3 miles form the Kings Mountain State Park and they co-join for trails and other recreational activities. You can contact the park for further information at 864-936-7921.

From The Gaffney Ledger.com

A free concert featuring Whippoorwill will be presented by Kings Mountain National Military Park on Saturday, July 19. The show will be in the Visitor Center auditorium at 7 p.m. York county natives Nash Lyle and Frank Tice have had a musical association for nearly 20 years in the Rock Hill area.

National Park Service launches "Accessibility site"

Stu Marks — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:42:00 GMT

"Accessibility" is the politically correct term (which translates as impersonal, confusing and counterproductive) for "those with handicaps or special needs".

If you are temporarily or permanently handicapped in some way, the park service can help you gain easier access to national parks through this new site. A great idea. This doesn't mean that the NPS is finally installing ramps, and wheel chair lifts everywhere. It's just routing most of its special needs access info into one hub making it easier to make choices on where to head for your next vacation.

I feel it important to note here that the site is still under construction and may not work all of the time; a fact that the park service doesn't make totally clear in the A.P. article below. However, the idea is a great one and certainly needed. Adventure-Crew suggests that those interested book mark the link and check back often. I know we will.
Editor

FROM THE A.P.; Washington—The National Park Service has launched a Web site for visitors with disabilities and other special needs to help them find accessible trails, programs and activities at national parks.

The Web site at http://www.nps.gov/pub—aff/access/index.htm is called "National Parks: Accessible to Everyone."

Many individual parks have sections on their Web sites about accessibility, and the new national database is a work in progress, incorporating information as it becomes available.
The site lists places where signed interpreters can be arranged for the hearing-impaired and which visitor’s centers have captioned movies or services for visually impaired park-goers. There are also detailed descriptions of trails, including the type of surface, for visitors who have mobility handicaps or use wheelchairs.

A description of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for example, notes that most park trails are "steep and rugged," but a half-mile paved trail can be found on Newfound Gap Road south of the Sugarlands Visitor Center, along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. The path even has tracks of a black bear that happened to wander across the wet concrete when the trail was built.

"We still have a way to go before we can say we are accessible to all, but that is our goal and we will continue to work to achieve that," Mary A. Bomar, director of the National Park Service, said today.

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