A winter paradise: Florida's Gulf Islands National Seashore

The National Park Service News service features Gulf Islands National Seashore in its latest release.

The park is welcoming visitors again after being threatened by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

This is the best time to visit as the hot, humid weather between June and September softens to a comfortable warmth.

National Park Service Ranger-led tours include barrier islands, local birds, and the forts found at Gulf Islands that represent colonization by the Spanish, and events from the Civil War and World War II.

The park also boasts sugar-white beaches, marshes full of wildlife, and hiking and biking trails winding through saw tooth palmettos and live oaks. Snorkeling also opens up a world of marine life in the Gulf's blue-green waters.

Check out Bob Difley's Boondocking and Snowbird Guide eBooks at RVbookstore.com

Clinton home birthplace added to National Parks holdings

If you're like many RVers who have a National Park Service "passport" book, you'll soon have a new stamp to acquire: After the turn of the year, the Service takes over the childhood home of President Bill Clinton. The modest home in Hope, Arkansas will hold the formal title, President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site.

The Clinton Birthplace, at 117 S. Hervey Street. in Hope, Arkansas, is a 2 ½ story American four-square home. The President's grandparents owned the home from 1938 until the mid-1950s. The future president called it home from his birth until he was age 4, but the place centered in his life for as long as his grandparents owned the home.

While the Park Service will take over official operations of the new National Historic Site in January, a formal dedication will happen sometime in Spring.

Photos: Clinton home, clintonbirthplace.org; Clinton at age 4, photographs of the White House Photograph Office (Clinton Administration

National Parks Event Tips Report for December 3, 2010

Here’s a sampling of events coming up soon nationwide in U.S. National Parks.

* At Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (La Junta, Colorado), the holidays come to a fur trading post of the 1840s on December 3 and 4. The celebration includes wagon rides, games, toy making, a piñata break, and two evenings of candlelight tours of the fort.

* From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 11, come to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (North Carolina) for Christmas at Connemara. This free celebration will honor Carl Sandburg and the family holiday tradition of music. Singers, instrumentalists, a Cherokee Indian storyteller, and others will perform.

* Join this year’s “Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree” at Kings Canyon National Park (California) on December 12. The destination is the General Grant Tree, which President Calvin Coolidge designated as the “Nation’s Christmas Tree” in 1926 and which was established in 1956 as the only living national shrine to those who gave their lives in service to our country.

* On December 19, come to Valley Forge National Historical Park (Pennsylvania) for “The Army Arrives! Annual March-In of the Continental Army Commemoration.” There will be candlelight tours, a “march” to the Muhlenberg Brigade huts, and good old-fashioned 18th-century festivities. At the Muhlenberg huts, park staff and volunteers in period clothing will demonstrate camp life while the Colonial Revelers rejoice in the visitor center.

* Explore the natural side of the solstice holiday—stars, evergreens, wildlife (for example, cardinals, turkeys, and roadrunners)—on a unique nighttime drive through Saguaro National Park’s Rincon Mountain District (Arizona). The auto tours that make up the Holiday Car Caravan will be offered at half-hour intervals on the evening of December 30.

A New Year Everywhere, a New Century in Fruita, Colorado New Year’s Eve will usher in a second century for Colorado National Monument, established in 1911. On the evening of December 31, visitors will gather for an evening of fun and family-friendly activities culminating in a fireworks extravaganza. Entrance fees will be waived, and the day’s events will launch the beginning of a festive centennial year. In the next 10 months, the Monument will offer a wide variety of events, activities, and opportunities to reflect and honor this special place’s past while gearing up for a second century of conservation and service.

Coming Up
Dedication of Pearl Harbor Visitor Center (December 7)

Still time to enter the 2011 National Park photo contest

The National Park Service encourages all Americans to participate in the Share the Experience Photo Contest and join the ranks of Ansel Adams, Thomas Moran, and others who have created masterpieces depicting the nation’s public lands. The photo taken by the grand prize winner will appear on a 2012 America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. He or she will receive a prize package that includes a trip for four to a federal recreation area, photography equipment and a pass to the national parks and other federal lands for 2012. Second-, third-, and fourth-place winners, and 10 Honorable Mention winners will also receive prizes.

The contest runs through December 31, 2010. Amateur photographers canparticipate by uploading photos on www.sharetheexperience.org or through Facebook, Flickr, or Shutterfly to the contest website.

“We always encourage the American people to visit and experience their national parks,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis. “We especially do so now, in the weeks before the Share the Experience deadline. Photography is very much about seeing. Head to a national park and really see it through the lens of your camera.”

Few Americans live far from one of the country’s 393 national parks. These protected places come in all sizes. They can be found in cities (for example, Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco) as well as in areas on which humans have had less impact. They preserve natural features like the Everglades and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and historic sites like Independence Hall and the farm on which Abraham Lincoln lived as a boy and a young man.

Share the Experience, the official photo contest of America’s national parks and federal recreational lands, is sponsored by Olympus and the National Park Foundation. Olympus and the National Park Foundation offer Share the Experience in partnership with the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

The annual Share the Experience contest showcases the more than 500 million acres of federal lands and draws entries from all across the United States. It is the largest national park and public land photo contest for amateur photographers.

“We always tell people in parks to take only pictures and leave only footprints,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “Our annual photo contest is a great reason to get outside and capture the incredible places preserved in our national parks.”

Free admission to National Parks for Veterans Day on Nov. 11

In honor of current and former servicemen and women, entrance to all of America’s 393 national parks will be free for all visitors on Veterans Day, November 11. Besides the fee waiver, national parks will offer opportunities for visitors to pay tribute to the members of our country’s armed forces.

For example, on Veterans Day, the World War II Memorial on the National Mall will host a ceremony to honor all of America’s female veterans of the war as well as a wreath-laying to honor members of the 82nd Airborne Division who died in the conflict. Also in Washington, DC, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Veterans Day will be observed with speeches, speakers, a color guard and a wreath-laying ceremony, all in honor of all those who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War and America’s other wars, including those in Afghanistan and Iraq.

After sunset on Saturday, November 13, 2010, participants in the evening program at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia will place a candle at the grave of each of the more than 6,000 soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the Union in the Civil War. This luminary event, held by the staff of Petersburg National Battlefield, will include the music of bagpipes and selected stories of people who laid down their lives for their beliefs.

Glen Canyon may be your fall "stopover" ticket

As winter moves, so do the snowbirds. The cold, Arctic blasts seems to send a precursor signal to those RVers in the north, and they begin their annual migration toward the south before the snow flies. Many turn their GPS pointers to Arizona, where the winter sun keeps frosts at bay.

If a southern route is in your plan, a 'drop in along the way' to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area may be just the ticket for some new eye-openers. Glen Canyon encompasses thousands of desert acres (1,254,429 to be precise), but don't imagine for a moment that all those acres are vast tracts of sparsely vegetated soil. The Colorado River flows through the canyon in wet abundance, making this a popular destination for boaters, fisherfolks, and others who love the lap of water. The backup of river water has created Lake Powell, a huge recreational oasis. Think classy houseboats and water skiing.

But Glen Canyon's popularity peaks in summer; as winter rolls around the crowds depart. This could be attributed to the high desert nature of the area--it does tend to get cold. Come December and January, the freeze point will often be seen. But November--ah November. Warm days (60s and 70s not uncommon) and cool, crisp nights can be just the right amount of cold for the snowbird--a reminder of what they're leaving behind without the associated pain of the snow shovel or heating bill.

Where's to stay in Glen Canyon? If you like up-ticked, complete with restaurants, boat rentals, and 50 amp electric service, the Park Service has farmed out several popular campgrounds to the auspices of commercial vendors. You can find out more about these at the Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas web site. Golfers will find the Glen Canyon Country Club near Page, Arizona may suit them to a tee (time).

For RVers with a liking that shifts more to quiet and boondocking, then Lee's Ferry Campground, operated by the Park Service is the place we call home on our southern sojourn. Up on a bluff overlooking the Colorado, the campground offers no electrical hookups, but is one of the most beautiful stretches of the river in the area. Not far upriver from the campground is a put-in spot for folks doing float trips down the river and on into the Grand Canyon. If you're into fishing, there's plenty of action within walking distance of the campground.

You'll find a lot more on this huge recreational draw on the Park Service website dedicated to Glen Canyon. But don't wait too long--winter will definitely arrive, and snowbird may find the cold then way too much like home.

Free park admission this Saturday, September 25

In celebration of National Public Lands Day, admission fees will be waived at all national parks. Parks are looking forward to an influx of folks coming to visit the national jewels. But there's more to NPLD than just a free visit: Last year 150,000 volunteers turned out at national parks and other public lands, churning out an impressive effort that resulted in new trails and bridges, planted trees, the removal of invasive species, and a host of other services to aid our public lands.

Want to get involved? There's still time to find a site near you and volunteer. Check out the National Public Lands Day web site at http://www.publiclandsday.org/.

photo: Zion National Park, R & T DeMaris

National Park Service handbooks available free online

The online library of almost 4,000 books, reports and articles developed by the National Park Service (NPS) keeps growing. Historian Harry Butowsky expands the collection every week. Recently, he added the popular NPS handbooks. First published in the 1950s by the NPS Harpers Ferry Center, they provide a wealth of comprehensive information drawn from the latest scientific and historical research available at the time of publication. Photographs, maps, and original art complement the texts. The contents of many of these handbooks are available online at http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/handbooks/index.htm.
To access the entire History E-Library, go to http://www.nps.gov/history/history/hisnps.

Volunteers sought for Adopt-A-Trail program in Great Smokey Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting for volunteers to participate in the Adopt-a-Trail (AAT) program, an effort that helps to maintain the park’s 800-mile trail system.

The Volunteers in Parks (VIP) program has integrated volunteerism into many of its Park operations, including trail maintenance that covers everything from picking up litter to removing tree falls and reporting trail problems to the park.

A mandatory training program is scheduled on July 31 in the North Carolina area of the park for those who are interested in participating in the program.

AAT volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and in good physical condition. They are expected to hike/patrol the trail(s) at least eight times per program year -- March through October. Specific trail duties include: Collect and remove litter; clean waterbars and drainage systems; perform brushing and removal of small windfalls or branches (hand tools only); perform minor trail tread maintenance; remove illegal campsites and fire rings found along trail; inspect trail and trail signs; and promote Leave No Trace outdoor ethics.

The training will be held on July 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the park’s North Carolina Trail Shop Training Room near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, two miles north of Cherokee.

In order to attend, participants must register by July 26 with Christine Hoyer, Trails and Facilities Volunteer Coordinator at (828) 497-1949 or Christine_Hoyer@nps.gov.

The later part of the training will take place outside on the trail so people should wear appropriate clothing including sturdy footwear. Also, a packed lunch will be necessary.

All who are interested but are unable to attend the July training can contact Christine Hoyer to be placed on a mailing list to attend future training sessions in Tennessee as well.

Mesa Verde National Park offers new camping, tour package

ARAMARK Mesa Verde has announced a new camping package, a guided tour and "green" upgrades at Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park's Morefield Campground. Campers can enjoy sleeping under the stars in the natural beauty of the park's scenic Morefield Canyon.

The package deal, which starts at $89, includes a dry campsite (or $115 for a base campsite) plus two seats on the new Far View Explorer Tour, a driver-guided adventure that departs directly from the campground. The tour takes guests to the popular Far View archaeological sites, including the third largest cliff dwelling Spruce Tree House, and includes short hikes to scenic and archeological overlooks and a picnic lunch in a wooded canyon. The package, which is valid for stays through Oct. 13, 2010, also includes an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast for two and s'mores fix’ns to cook by the fire.

The full-service 350-space Morefield Campground is located inside the park, four miles from its entrance, and offers single, group and base camping; along with amenities like Wi-Fi access at the camp store, a cafe, hot showers, picnic tables and grills.

Together with the National Park Service (NPS), ARAMARK Mesa Verde worked to curb water consumption through a complete water system overhaul at the campground which saved 1.3 million gallons of water in its inaugural year.
 
Mesa Verde National Park was named "The Number One Historic Monument in the World" by Conde Nast Traveler, "One of 50 Places to Visit in a Lifetime" by National Geographic Traveler and a "Top 10 Fodor's Destination." The park was established by Congress on June 29, 1906, to preserve from injury or spoliation the ruins and other works and relics of prehistoric humans. It contains world-renowned dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo peoples within 52,000 acres, 8,000 of which have been designated by Congress as protected wilderness areas. For more information, log on to visitmesaverde.com.

Photo copyright 2010 by Emily Woodbury

Saguaro National Park to host BioBlitz 2011

Saguaro National Park, bordering Tucson, Ariz., has been named as the host site for the 2011 National Park Service/National Geographic BioBlitz, scheduled for Oct. 21 and 22, 2011.

Part scientific endeavor, part festival and part outdoor classroom, BioBlitz is a two-day celebration of biodiversity centered on a 24-hour race to count species. During the BioBlitz, teams of scientists, school children and the general public work together to find and identify as many species as possible.

“We are excited that Saguaro National Park will host the 2011 BioBlitz,” said Saguaro National Park Superintendent Darla Sidles. “This event will offer a great opportunity for thousands of people in the greater Tucson area to explore and learn about species across the park’s mountains, cactus forests and riparian areas like never before.”

This will be the fifth BioBlitz that National Geographic and the National Park Service are presenting as a lead-up to the Service’s centennial in 2016. A different national park is being selected each year. The 2010 BioBlitz took place in Florida’s Biscayne National Park on April 30 and May 1, when thousands of people, including more than 1,300 school children and more than 150 scientists, identified over 800 species, including several not previously documented in the park.

“BioBlitz is a unique opportunity for top scientists and the general public to do field work together,” said John Francis, National Geographic’s vice president for research, conservation and exploration. “Through BioBlitz, the park gets a biodiversity checkup, but more importantly we all better understand our unique role in the natural systems where we live.”

Park Service launches online travel itinerary for Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Towering 800 feet over the plains, Scotts Bluff, Nebraska has been a landmark for travelers for thousands of years. Modern day tourists can now easily follow the footsteps of Native Americans, fur trappers, missionaries, soldiers, and homesteaders and explore the area with the help of the National Park Service’s new Discover Our Shared Heritage travel itinerary, found at http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/scotts_bluff.

“People on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, and with the Pony Express all passed through the Scotts Bluff region,” said National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “This part of Nebraska’s North Platte River Valley tells an important part of the story of western expansion and the settlement of the Midwest. This itinerary highlights places that trace the history of the area from its earliest settlement to modern times.”

The itinerary has information about 27 local sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Descriptions, maps, and photographs of each place highlight their significance and thematic essays provide additional context. A Learn More section includes links to tourist information for the cities of Scottsbluff and Gering and the surrounding area and other units of the National Park System in Nebraska.

The Scotts Bluff itinerary is the 51st in the National Park Service’s ongoing Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Series. The series promotes public awareness of history and encourages visits to historic places throughout the country.

The National Park Service’s Heritage Education Services, Midwest Regional Office History and National Register Program, and Scotts Bluff National Monument produced the Scotts Bluff Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary in partnership with the City of Scottsbluff, the City of Gering, the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

Just off I-70, Colorado's magnificent Colorado National Monument

Erosion has carved the dramatic landscape here on the flanks of the eastern boundary of the Colorado Plateau near Grand Junction, Colorado. Steep-walled canyons cut into the plateau, their sides revealing striations of color also visible on the monoliths that loom above canyon floors. Terra cotta, sienna, rust: the spectrum of the sandstone runs through variants of brown with red and orange undertones. The name “Colorado” -- Spanish for “ruddy” or “red” -- suits this national park, where stubbles of green provided by the pinyon and juniper trees that grow below and on top of the plateaus complements the geologic hues.

According to Joan Anzelmo, superintendent of Colorado National Monument, "The name, Colorado National Monument, does not begin to describe the hidden paradise of red rock canyons and sandstone monoliths that parallel the Interstate 70 corridor stretching from Grand Junction to Fruita. It is absolutely worthwhile to get off of I-70 and take the historic Rim Rock Drive to the inner reaches of Colorado National Monument. The monument turns 100 years old in 2011.

In some respects, Colorado National Monument is a place of extremes. The sky shows off its enormity, the rock formations their height and strength. Visitors can follow “the Crookedest Road in the World” (the park’s Serpents Trail) and eat lunch in Devils Kitchen (site of a picnic area) while remaining in a hiker’s paradise.

The park offers a number of trails, which accommodate hikers seeking different degrees of challenge. Bike rides and auto tours on Rim Rock Drive afford more ways to see the park, which can be experienced tactilely as well as visually by rock climbers. Camping in the monument’s Saddlehorn Campground (80 primitive sites, RVs up to 40 feet, $10 fee) allows visitors to immerse themselves in this rugged yet serene national park. Or if they wish, at night they can stare out at the city lights of Grand Junction in the valley far below.

Every November, runners come to Colorado National Monument to compete in the 26.2 mile Rim Rock Marathon, a race across the entire length of the monument's Rim Rock Drive. The race is one of the longest through any National Park Service site. 

New dinosaur rears head in Dinosaur National Monument

A team of paleontologists from Dinosaur National Monument, Brigham Young University, and the University of Michigan have announced the discovery of a new, large, plant-eating dinosaur, Abydosaurus mcintoshi, (pronounced Ab-id-o-saurus mak-in-toshi). The discovery is described this week in the on-line first section of the science journal Naturwissenschaften.

The fossil remains were excavated from the 105-million-year-old Cedar Mountain Formation in Dinosaur National Monument. The new find contains rare and spectacular fossils, including the only complete sauropod skull in the entire Western Hemisphere from the last 80 million years of the Age of Dinosaurs.

“Because skulls are made up of many thin and fragile bones they are easily destroyed and rarely preserved. So although more than 120 species of sauropods have been discovered across the globe, complete skulls are extremely rare.” said Dr. Dan Chure, paleontologist at Dinosaur. “However, skulls are complex structures that provide a great deal of information about the dinosaur’s biology and evolution, so they are extremely important. You can hardly overstate the significance of these fossils.”

“Discovering a complete sauropod skull is remarkable. I've been collecting dinosaurs since the age of 14, and these complete skulls are the most spectacular fossils I've had the opportunity to work on” said BYU researcher Brooks Britt. “All the Abydosaurus fossils we have collected to date are juveniles, only a mere 25 feet or so in length. How large a fully adult individual was is unknown but it was certainly much larger.”

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN researcher Jeff Wilson and his graduate student John Whitlock studied the feeding adaptations of Abydosaurus. Wilson noted that “Sauropods, one of the most diverse and long lived lineages of dinosaurs, are surprising in that they show none of the adaptations seen in other plant-eating dinosaurs, such as beaks for slicing or cheeks to hold in food while chewing. Yet in spite of the lack of any specializations, they were around for 150 million years and are the largest land dwelling animals in the history of life.” Whitlock added, “Abydosaurus is from a time period when titanosauriform sauropods began to develop a slimmer tooth shape from the broader teeth of their ancestors. This change in tooth shape is related to changes in diet in a way we are only just beginning to understand, in part because we haven't always had the fossils to tell the whole story. Abydosaurus is the right dinosaur at the right time to answer some of these questions."

This announcement is the result of a several years of research, beginning with excavations started in the late 1990s. The site contains not just one individual but the remains of a group of sauropods, at least four individuals and likely more since additional fossils are still in the ground. Most parts of the skeleton are present:  neck and tail vertebrae, shoulder blades, pelvis, arms, legs, hands, feet, and four skulls --- two complete and two incomplete.

Loaded firearms soon to be okay in many National Parks

Will you soon see a tourist with a six-shooter on his hip alongside other tourists at Mather Point overlooking the Grand Canyon? It's entire possible.

Beginning February 22, 2010 a new gun law will go into effect in America's national park areas. The new law, passed last spring by an bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate, will allow people to possess, carry and transport firearms in national parks, in accordance with state law. The new law repeals a National Park Service rule that has long prohibited Americans from possessing firearms in national parks for self-defense.

Many details remain to be worked out. Reports indicate that National Park Service officials are debating issues such as the definition of “federal facilities,” where firearms will remain prohibited under a different federal law. 

To illustrate its objections to this new law, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) issued a press release voicing its opposition to the new law. The group cities the heightened risk for rangers and the increased likelihood that wildlife — as well as natural and historical monuments — will become irresistible targets.

Bill Wade, chair of CNPSR's Executive Council and former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park said, "This is a sad chapter in the history of America's premier system of heritage areas. The law will have a chilling effect on how visitors behave in national parks. A feeling of safety and security will be replaced by wariness and suspicion. This diminishes some of the 'specialness and reverence' our citizens have long accorded to their national parks."

While many states, and therefore the national park areas in them, will soon allow individuals to openly carry firearms, most states are much more restrictive about concealed-carry, and most require a permit to do so. Visitors with a permit from one state may or may not be able to carry a concealed gun into a national park in another state, depending on reciprocity agreements. Similarly, visitors who have "long guns" in vehicle racks traveling from a park in one state to a park in another state will have to understand the differing state requirements.

Supporters
Last May, Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said the new gun measure protects every American's Second Amendment rights and also protects the rights of states to pass laws that apply to their entire state, including public lands. Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who inserted the gun amendment into a credit card bill, noted that "Visitors to national parks should have the right to defend themselves in accordance with the laws of their states."

Mark Chester, an editor with the National Rifle Association wrote, "Records prove that Americans with Right-to-Carry licenses are among the most law-abiding citizens in our country. In fact, that’s true in every state that has passed a Right-to-Carry law in the last 20 years. Also, those same citizens now legally carrying firearms in national parks have long been carrying their guns in a variety of public places outside the parks -- places where they stood side by side with pro-gun and anti-gun citizens alike on a daily basis without those people even being aware they were armed."

NPS officials are expected to issue further information as February 22 approaches, and some parks have already published information on their new policies. Because state laws vary greatly, before you visit a national park, you should check the park’s website or call the park headquarters for more information.

If you wish to comment on this article, please do so. But no name calling, flaming or foul language. Those posts will be deleted. Thank you.

* * *
The 2010 Travelers Guide to Firearm Laws is the definitive source of state-by-state gun laws in the United States

See firearm related products at Amazon.com

60 National Parks offer night skies programs in 2010

Last year, 2009, was designated as the International Year of Astronomy, four hundred years after Galileo first studied the night skies with his telescope. Thousands of people also discovered the night skies in programs at our national parks.

The National Park Service (NPS) is predicting that tens of thousands more will also discover the night skies through their Astronomy Night at the Park programs at sixty national parks in 2010.

Learn more from the dark skies Web site, with tips on lighting, energy conservation, posters, post cards, measuring the night sky, and information on how light pollution affects animals.

Check out the dark skies programs for the various national parks on their individual Web sites or go to the main NPS Web site for further information.

Earthquakes still shaking Yellowstone

Earthquakes continue to rumble in Yellowstone National Park. Over the past two weeks about 100 small earthquakes a day have scientists scratching their chins.

Though scientists say that the quakes are more a curiosity than a cause for alarm and are not an indication of a bigger quake to come. However, they are closely monitoring and analyzing the data from the quake zone, which is about ten miles northwest of the Old Faithful geyser in an isolated area not near any road or community.

From January 17 through Sunday, January 31, 1,608 earthquakes had been recorded. As earthquake clusters go, this current cluster is second to the 1985 cluster when 3,000 quakes were recorded over three months.

Since the Haiti earthquake, interest in earthquakes has peaked, says the U.S. Geological Survey, with visits to their Earthquake Hazards Program website increasing five times since the quake, to more than one million visits per day.

Yosemite cable trail permit now required

Yosemite National Park officials said Friday that because of crowds and concerns for safety, a permit will be required to climb the popular cable route to the top of Half Dome from Friday through Sunday and holidays.

In 2008 about 84,000 people took the cable route and one person died and another was severely injured.

Starting in May, park officials will limit climbers to 400 per day. On many days there have been well over 1,000 climbers. Permits will be available at reservation.gov or by calling (877) 444-6777. Though free, a service charge of $1.50 will be charged for each permit.

Proposed Manhattan Project National Park stirring debate over locations

The National Park Service is working on a draft of a new national park to commemorate the Manhattan Project which developed the atomic bomb that ended World War II. One option of the plan is to establish the official park site at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where displays would acknowledge the contributions of other cities such as Hanford, Washington, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Residents of Oak Ridge, however, believe that their city deserves a park site as well. Watch this video to learn more.

Second woman goes missing at Point Reyes in two weeks

Authorities say that foul play is not suspected in the disappearance Sunday of a Nicasio woman at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Search crews on Monday continued to hunt for Silvia Lange, 77, a docent beloved by hiking enthusiasts and colleagues at Angel Island State Park. She also trained dogs to become helpers with those with disabilities.

Lange has not been seen since Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, her car was found at the North Beach parking lot at Point Reyes, triggering a search-and-rescue effort that lasted until 11 p.m. and continued all day Monday.

What triggers an alert for many is that Lange's disappearance comes two weeks after search-and-rescue crews could not find 37-year-old Katherine Truitt of Alameda at McClures Beach, also in Point Reyes, eight miles north of the North Beach area. Truitt has not been found.

"We have no evidence of foul play," says Lucas Marciniak of the San Mateo Search and Rescue team, "and no evidence to suggest a link" between the two disappearances, said Don Neubacher, superintendent of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Point Reyes National Seashore, extending out into the Pacific Ocean on a prominent peninsula north of San Francisco, is a windy, chilly place even in summer, but in winter winds can be ferocious, fog thick, and rain heavy. Winter visitors are hardy and few. Hikers may not see many others in the large and isolated park.

I have hiked many of the trails in the park, and can say from experience that it is easy for hikers to fall from a collapsing bluff, or slip into a rain swept canyon where it may be days--or weeks for isolated trails--until another person comes along and finds them.

But the other possibility should also be considered. Though foul play is not at this time being talked about, the disappearance of two women, both alone, from this park that is lightly used in winter, within two weeks of each other would be a striking coincidence.

Nevertheless, the gray whales are migrating and whale watching is excellent at Point Reyes. Visitors should not be discouraged from these wonderful sights of spouting leviathans, but caution is advised. Don't visit and hike these lonesome trails alone if you can find a companion, both for the unthinkable reason, and for the inherent trail dangers of rain, loose slippery banks, isolation, and other winter hazards of this wonderfully scenic national seaxhore.

View whale migration from Point Reyes NS

The California gray whale swims 10,000 miles each year, the longest migration of any mammal, spending about one third of its life migrating from the cold, nutrient-rich waters of Alaska, to the warm, shallow lagoons of Baja California.

Jutting ten miles into the Pacific Ocean, the headlands of the Point Reyes National Seashore offer one of the finest spots along the California coast to view the gray whale. The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary provides a twenty mile-wide "highway" through which the whales cruise.

Sometimes they swim well off the coast, but often travel close in to shore, where they can easily be viewed from the high bluffs of the headland. The areas around Chimney Rock and the Lighthouse offer some of the best whale watching spots in the park.

The peak of the southern migration usually occurs in mid-January and that of the northern migration in mid-March. Late April and early May afford the opportunity to see mothers and calves close to shore.

What drives the gray whale to undertake this incredible annual round trip from Alaska to Baja? The basics of mammal urges, food and reproduction.

Yellowstone is rumbling again

The magma chamber that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park is what remains from an initial volcanic eruption of 2.1 million years ago that was 2,500 times more powerful than the Mt. St. Helens eruption, and may have been the largest, most violent volcanic eruption in the history of the earth.

Enough ash and volcanic debris--roughly 600 cubic miles of material--exploded from the eruptions to cover the entire western half of the United States with about a four-foot deep layer of ash.

Explosions of this magnitude "happen about every 600,000 years at Yellowstone," says Chuck Wicks of the U.S. Geological Survey, who has studied the possibilities. "And it's been about 620,000 years since the last super explosive eruption there."

That's comforting.

Now the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory reports that Yellowstone is rumbling again. Since Sunday, there have been 901 measured earthquakes in the park. The largest has been of magnitude 3.8.

"The swarm earthquakes are likely the result of slip on pre-existing faults rather than underground movement of magma," reported the United States Geological Survey on Thursday. "Currently there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity."

Two of the strongest earthquakes were measured on Wednesday night with eight of the earthquakes measuring 3.0 or more. While the vast majority of the earthquakes have been too small to feel, people in and around the park have reported feeling a few of them. The earthquakes have centered near the northwest edge of the Yellowstone Caldera.

The USGS believes there is nothing to indicate any serious cause for concern. Earthquake swarms have been quite common in the area since the time of the last major eruption.

Maybe that's just the earth letting us know she's still pretty awesome. However, it's still OK to visit Yellowstone. No major eruptions are predicted, and the likelihood of an eruption in any given century is is minuscule, since such events are measured in tens of thousands or even millions of years apart.

Steamtown National Historic Site

Steam rises around you. A giant turntable revolves. Excitement simmers in your chest. It might sound like you’re dancing the night away at a trendy club, but the turntable before you (used for positioning locomotives) isn’t manned by a DJ, and here, steam creates power not ambiance.

At Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, thrills sweep through visitors as they travel by rail or watch an “iron horse” race along its track. The park offers train excursions of varying lengths. In 2010, trips start in April, but don’t delay a visit until then. Steamtown, like the United States in the 19th and early 20th century heyday of rail travel, boasts plenty of opportunities in addition to riding the rails.

You can enter locomotives for a view of their controls and take a peek inside one locomotive that has had parts of its exterior cut away to reveal the operation of its steam engine. You can also walk through a post office car and a business car and check out museum exhibits. The History Museum at Steamtown acquaints visitors with life on the railroad and with early railroads, as well as with the interaction between businessmen, laborers, members of the government, and people who used, owned, or worked on railroads.

At the Technology Museum, learn about freight cars and the building of railroad tracks. Find out more about the railroads’ architecture, a sample of which is available at Steamtown in surviving portions of the Scranton roundhouse and locomotive repair shops of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad.

Steamtown National Historic Site is the 32nd feature in the National Park Getaways series.

New interactive photo guide to Yosemite

On Monday “iFotoGuide”, the only interactive location photography guide available on the iPhone and iPod Touch, released their second installment, the “iFotoGuide: Yosemite Valley” available at the Apple App Store.

This comprehensive digital guide to photographing one of America’s most popular national parks was created by photographers for professional and amateur photographers and claims to provide users with all the tools necessary for a successful and productive photo trip.

Filled with dynamic, interactive content and breathtaking images, “iFotoGuide: Yosemite Valley” replaces out of date hard copy guidebooks. Upon arrival in the park they can use the guide to find locations to photograph, the best time to be there, and what gear they’ll need.

An interactive park map allows users to zoom, pan, and select photography locations by name. Images in the photo gallery are interactive, with one touch providing detailed instructions for getting to and photographing each location.

NPS announces Golden Gate National Park's Day of Service

National Park Service news Release
January 13, 2010
Golden Gate National Recreation Area

America’s Best Idea: National Park Getaway

SAN FRANCISCO – Hearing about the plight of natural areas around the world—areas invaded by non-native species, sullied by pollution, and beset by a host of problems linked to climate change—can create a feeling of helplessness. One may hardly know where to start when confronting global phenomena.

You’ll find a way out of this dilemma, however, in San Francisco on January 18, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Here, make a small but significant start on preventing and undoing damage to the environment by participating in the Golden Gate National Parks Day of Service. Volunteers can help maintain trails, restore habitats, and clean beaches. They can also contribute to planting projects and help birds find nesting materials.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the 31st national park to appear in a series of weekly National Park Getaways, (www.nps.gov/getaways) online articles that introduce prospective travelers to, or remind them of, places where they can reconnect with nature, history, family, and friends. Often, a getaway is about getting—that is, what you will get out of a visit to Jewel Cave, Cuyahoga Valley, or another featured destination. This week’s getaway, however, helps people to plan a trip that is as much about giving as it is about getting.

The feature piece and photographs put readers in touch with more information about giving time and efforts to the recreation area on January 18. Readers will also discover some surprises and hidden gems of the park. The offerings of this urban park include historic places, beaches, and opportunities to hike. Among the redwoods and alongside the Pacific Ocean, beauty abounds. Maintain this beauty and savor it on the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Summer jobs at Grand Teton

Grand Teton National Park is now recruiting participants for the 2010 Youth Conservation Program (YCP). Thanks to generous donations made by several donors through the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, this marks the fifth year that the park has offered this youth employment opportunity. Grand Teton plans to recruit 15-20 short-term positions. Applications must be postmarked by March 12, 2010.

If you have a teen or know of one that would fit this program, consider the YCP summer employment program for high school students, ages 16 to 19. YCP enrollees develop an understanding of National Park Service (NPS) conservation ethics as they assist with critically-needed maintenance and rehabilitation on park trails and pathways. Participants work alongside NPS crew leaders and become familiar with NPS stewardship goals, while learning essential trail maintenance skills. YCP participants may also answer basic visitor questions and serve as park ambassadors as they complete project work on some of the most visible, and most impacted, park trails.

The 2010 YCP program will run for ten weeks from June 14 through August 19. Participants must be at least 16 years of age by June 14, and live locally as housing is not provided. Applicants must also be United States citizens and students in good standing. Other qualifications include good team skills, a willingness to learn about Grand Teton National Park and its trail system, and the ability to work at a physically demanding job which may involve lifting 30-40 pounds. The program includes three work crews with five to six YCP trail members, and wages are set at $10.88 per hour.

To obtain an application or get further information about the 2010 YCP, call Brian Bergsma in Grand Teton National Park at 307.739.3364, or write to YCP Program, GTNP, Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012. Applications are also available online at http://www.nps.gov/grte/supportyourpark/ycp.htm.

Yosemite visitation highest since 1996

Yosemite National Park received 3,866,970 visitors in 2009. This marks the highest level of visitation in the park since 1996.

Visitation to the park peaked in 1996 with 4,190,557 visitors. Since 1996, the park has experienced a downward trend in visitation. This trend continued through 2006, with the park receiving 3,366,500 visitors. In 2007, the trend reversed and visitation began to increase.

Visitation to Yosemite National Park first hit the one million mark in 1954. The park saw two million visitors for the first time in 1967. In 1987, the park hit the three million mark with 3,266,418 visitors.

Great Smoky Mountain NP: Our most visited national park

This is the third (first was Mesa Verde, second Joshua Tree) of my Top Ten National Park picks, a difficult choice with so many great parks to choose from. To qualify, they had to be RV friendly, offering camping, road-touring, or optional means of seeing the park. They had to encompass some of the most breathtaking and wild scenery in the country, have abundant wildlife, and offer a variety of recreational opportunities to make it a destination choice, a place you could spend days or weeks. They represent several types of terrain spread over nine states and Canada, from Maine to California.

Already by 1930 two-thirds of the future park area had been cut of its timber. A saving act by Congress established the park in 1934, the mission of which was to preserve this unique mountain area’s features, to rid the park of exotic plant and insect species, and re-establish wildlife, much of which had already been lost.

From the base of the mountains to the tops, the park’s five distinct forests support 130 species of trees, from spruce and firs of the higher elevations to oaks and hardwoods at lower elevations.

Road-touring, wildlife watching, high mountain scenic viewpoints, hiking trails, easy access to population centers, free admission, and the unique history of the mountain people combine to make Great Smokey Mountain our most visited National Park with over nine million annual visitors.

Coyotes, woodchucks, raccoons, opossums, red and gray foxes, and bobcats—65 mammal species--live in the park. Between 400 and 800 deer live in Cades Cove. About 1,500 black bears, about two bears per square mile and one of the country’s highest densities, roam the park. Red wolves, elk, and river otters have also been re-introduced.

Ten campgrounds nestle in the woods and along streams in the park, none with hookups, but three take reservations and six can accomodate rigs over 30 feet.

The park is located between Asheville, NC and Knoxville, TN in western North Carolina on the Tennessee border. Visit the park's Website for more information.

Fort Pulaski National Monument

The American Civil War pitted brother against brother and
parent against child when it erupted in the mid 19th century. Today,
however, the conflict is uniting family members. Together, they listen to
accounts of the struggle and explore the battlefields and defensive
structures where it raged. At Savannah, Georgia’s Fort Pulaski, for example, architecture, natural surroundings, and demonstrations of historical weapons afford experiences for members of a family to share.

A moat and a drawbridge, built as protective features, render the brick
fortification vulnerable to visitors’ interest. Instead of blocking people’s entry, the moat and the bridge draw them into the building, where they walk in the footsteps of Confederate and Union soldiers, on the parade ground of the fort, and among its arches and thick walls.

Visitors can also climb to the top of the fort and look out over the Savannah River and Cockspur Island, across marshes and woodlands. The interior of the fort, which housed Confederate prisoners after falling to Union troops, seems to demand that visitors stay alert, like prison guards or defenders, while the external, natural world soothes those who stroll through it in the shade or under the warm sun.

The liveliness of a visit to Fort Pulaski can only increase when one stops at the visitor center for exhibitions and a film or witnesses a ranger at the fort firing a Civil War-era musket. The history in which the fort is steeped engages visitors of all ages.

Increase in national parks camping in 2009

In the worst economic decline in the nation since the big depression, camping visitation still increased in our national parks (see figures below). In fact enough visitors flocked to Yellowstone National Park in 2009 to set a record -- with nearly 3.3 million visitors passing through the park’s gates, representing a 7.5% increase from 2008 crowds, and a 3.6% boost from the old record of 3.15 million visitors counted in 2007, according to park officials. Maybe when the economy is tight more people visit the national parks and go camping instead of taking higher priced vacations and weekend getaways.

It could also mean that retiring baby boomers increased the ranks of potential campers. The same pattern held with state parks around the country, most of which saw even higher percentage increases in camping in 2009. Maybe I'll have to start making reservations rather than winging it.


Increase comparison between 2008 and 2009

Tent camping increased from 2,956,761 to 3,141,248 or +6.24%

RV camping increased from 2,012,532 to 2,135,371 or +6.1%

Back country camping increased from 1,797,912 to 1,806,154 or +0.5%

Concessionaire camping increased from 1,224,864 to 1,301,419 or +6.25%

Overall increase went from 7,992,069 to 8,384,192 or +4.94

Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi offers January 2010 programs

Ranger-led programs are offered each week in Ocean Springs in the Mississippi District of the park, which is open year-round. With over 400 acres, visitors have a variety of activities to choose from in the Davis Bayou area, including camping, fishing, hiking, biking, and boating. All programs are free and open to the public.



On Sunday, January 3, learn about sea turtles. Which species might you see in our own coastal waters? What do they eat? Join a ranger to find out more about these creatures in a program suitable for all ages. Meet at the William M. Colmer Visitor Center auditorium at 2 p.m.



On Sunday, January 10 at 2 p.m., watch the film Aliens of the Sea. The leafy sea dragon, pipe fish, and other wonders of the deep appear on our new, large screen. The 50-minute film will be shown in the William M. Colmer Visitor Center auditorium.



On Saturday, January 16, join a volunteer naturalist, Dr. Libby Graves, and a park ranger for Winter Bird Walk at 8 a.m. What birds live in Davis Bayou in the winter? Which are only passing through? Join us to learn the answers to these questions and more. Dress for the weather and bring binoculars if you have them. A few pairs of binoculars will be available to borrow.



On Saturday, January 23 at 1 p.m., discover the plants and animals that thrive in our southern marshes. Meet at the William M. Colmer Visitor Center for Boat Davis Bayou and enjoy the salt marsh with a ranger on a flat-bottomed boat. You must sign up prior to this 45-minute tour.



On Friday, January 29 at 6 p.m., explore the park by moonlight. Learn about nocturnal animals, phases of the moon, moon lore, and making the most of human senses in reduced light. Meet at the campground amphitheater for this one-hour event, the Full Moon Fever walk.


Dress appropriately for the weather and bring binoculars if you have them. For more information about the above material, please contact Susan Blair at 228 230-4106.