Free Republic

How do you feel about allowing loaded guns in our national parks? Do you feel the need to pack heat while wandering the wildflower meadows of Paradise on Mount Rainier? Are you determined to protect yourself against overly aggressive squirrels at Hurricane Ridge? As you may have heard, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has agreed to modify existing rules that prohibit people from carrying loaded weapons in the national parks. The new rules will be ready for public comment by the end of April [289K PDF]. The push comes from the U.S. Senate. Fifty senators added their signatures to...

Motorized over-snow access to Yellowstone Park via Sylvan Pass will continue under terms of a Park Service decision signed Tuesday. The decision reversed an earlier Park Service preferred alternative that would have totally closed Yellowstone's East Entrance in wintertime after the 2007-08 season. A Record of Decision (ROD) concerning Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks and the Rockefeller Parkway was signed by Mike Snyder of Denver, director of the Intermountain Region of the Park Service. The ROD calls for changes in winter use in the two parks beginning with the 2008-09 winter season. “Unless they still commit to wanting to have...

This was first reported at FreeRepublic on Sunday, September 9 at 6:55 PM Pacific Time (3:55 PM Eastern), with follow-up posts here, here, and here.The incident took place on or some time prior to Friday, September 7. The original Freeper report, with plentiful pictures, states that: ..... It looks like the person who did this walked along The Wall with some type of container, perhaps hidden at their side so that they could squirt the oily substance without being caught in the act...... It is unknown who did this to The Wall, and apparently the US Park Police did...

I slowly went from one end of The Wall to the other, videotaping all the way. I wanted those who have loved ones named on The Wall to know whether "their" panels were damaged. I also wanted the full extent of the damage to be documented. This is Part 1, showing the damage to the east side of The Wall. It will take me several more hours to get the second video up. Stay tuned... Vietnam Memorial Wall (DC) Defaced Sept 7-8, 2007: Part 1

WASHINGTON — The National Park Service sought out footage of "conservative - right-wing demonstrations" to revise the video shown to visitors at the Lincoln Memorial (search) after being pressured by conservatives who complained the display implied Abraham Lincoln supported abortion, homosexuality and liberal causes. Park Service documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (search) show officials purchased video of President Bush, pro-gun advocates and pro-Iraq war rallies and also considered removing images of Democratic former President Clinton at the memorial. Park Service officials said they wanted the video to be politically balanced but refused to provide a copy of...

The plight of whistleblowers – those employees who sound the alarm about anything from dangerous conditions in the workplace to missed or ignored intelligence regarding our nation’s security – is a story that seems to grow stronger and with more frequency every day. My guess is that those stories have always been there; I suspect I am just paying closer attention to them now. You see, I joined the “ranks” of whistleblowers more than one year ago when, on December 2, 2003, a major newspaper printed a story in which I confirmed for them what many of us already knew...

The plight of whistleblowers – those employees who sound the alarm about anything from dangerous conditions in the workplace to missed or ignored intelligence regarding our nation’s security – is a story that seems to grow stronger and with more frequency every day. My guess is that those stories have always been there; I suspect I am just paying closer attention to them now. You see, I joined the “ranks” of whistleblowers more than one year ago when, on December 2, 2003, a major newspaper printed a story in which I confirmed for them what many of us already knew...

RIO DEL MAR — A State Parks ranger shot an unleashed dog Tuesday evening in the Rio del Mar section of Seacliff State Beach when the dog attacked the ranger, State Parks officials said. The dog, a 9-month-old, 52-pound pit bull-Labrador mix named Diego, may have been hit by a bullet, but ran off and had not been found by Wednesday evening. Kirk Lingenfelter, area parks superintendent, said the officer, whose name is being withheld pending investigation, was on routine patrol. The ranger encountered a woman on the beach around 6 p.m. with two dogs, after it closed for the...

Park Service Favors Compromise in Feud By MARY PEMBERTON Associated Press Writer January 23, 2004, 10:07 PM EST ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The National Park Service has carved out middle ground in the feud with a family that used a bulldozer to reopen an old mining road inside America's largest national park. The Park Service favors granting the 17-member Pilgrim family a special-use permit to drive the bulldozer along the old mining road, but only in winter and only when the ground is snow-covered to reduce damage to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The proposal sounds good, said family patriarch Papa...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 — To halt the removal of a cross placed in the Mojave National Preserve almost 70 years ago to commemorate World War I veterans, a Republican lawmaker from California has proposed swapping the land it sits on with a private group. The National Park Service recently ordered the return of plaques bearing biblical verses that had hung in Grand Canyon National Park for more than 30 years before they were taken down last summer. The Park Service also approved selling a book at the Grand Canyon that suggests the canyon was created in six days several thousand...

TUCSON, Ariz. - Grand Canyon National Park is refusing to add more names to its 20-year waiting list for Colorado River rafting permits, angering some private rafters. The decision won't affect people seeking commercial rafting tours, and the Park Service says it makes sense to stop taking applications because the permit process is under review, with a new plan expected by the end of next year. In an effort to preserve the canyon, the park allocates 169,950 user-days, giving 68 percent to professional outfitters. Nearly all the other permits go to private boaters. There are now more than 8,000 people...

JAMES CITY -- Despite a staggering estimate of $11.4 million in damages, Colonial National Historical Park representatives insist that artifacts flooded in the Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center by Hurricane Isabel will be restored and ready when a new collections building opens by 2007. Let's hope so, because Congress is watching. “I'm going to be anxiously waiting to see what they find,” Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-1st) said this week, referring to a National Park Service investigation into the flooding. “I'm hoping we didn't do anything wrong, and we can learn from it if we were to have another disaster.” Elaine...

<p>McCARTHY -- Like most people who meet the Pilgrim family for the first time, Walt Wigger was mightily impressed when they showed up to buy his mine in the Wrangell Mountains.</p> <p>Wigger, a crusty Fairbanks miner in his 80s, was struck by the size of the family and its energy and obvious unity of purpose. He was also impressed by the $30,000 in $100 bills that Papa Pilgrim pulled from his coat pocket -- money from cashing the family's Alaska Permanent Fund dividend checks.</p>

ECO - LOGIC After the Pilgrims... Park Service Rewrites History - and Law By "McCarthy Annie" Editor's note: This story is provided by the American Landrights Association, where you can find extensive coverage of the Pilgrim's plight. ALRA has established a Legal Defense Fund to help pay Pilgrim's attorney. Checks should be made payable to ALRA, with "Pilgrim Family" in the notation area. Here are a few more examples of how the Park Service and other federal agencies are driving people off their land: Bob LearzafDonald ScottDiane Luppi If you ever come to visit me in this rugged back corner...

<p>The National Park Service, which manages Alcatraz as one of San Francisco's most popular tourist attractions, has started selling boxed chunks of concrete from the federal prison that once housed Al Capone, George ``Machine Gun'' Kelly and Robert ``Birdman'' Stroud.</p>

THURSDAY JUNE 26 2003 ShopNetDaily Page 1 News Page 2 News G2 Bulletin BizNetDaily LocalNetDaily Commentary Classified Ads Letters People Search SportsNetDaily Health Weather TV Guide Movies Stocks PARK WARS: PART 1 'Pilgrim' family butts heads with feds Alaska 'hillbillies' take on bureaucrats over access to private land Posted: June 26, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: This is Part 1 of a 2-part series examining the battle a large Alaska family is fighting with federal officials over access to their land, which is located in a national park. By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Not many travelers find their...

Yes: Plan endangers equal access at all national parks With the onset of summer, Americans' thoughts are turning to where to spend this year's family vacation. Our national parks, with their breathtaking scenery and generally affordable accommodations, have long been the destinations of choice for millions of families. They may not be much longer. If a U.S. Park Service plan to limit public access to California's spectacular Yosemite National Park is allowed to stand, similar schemes could soon be in the works for other national parks, forcing many vacationers to go elsewhere for their relaxation. Yosemite is one of the...

<p>On June 1, services began at 1 p.m. at the Confederate State Park at Higginsville [MO] in memory of those Confederate Americans buried there.</p> <p>About 300 gathered to pay their respects. Those attending were descendants of those buried there, some were there to just pay their respects, and some came for the ceremonies.</p>

I would like to take this opportunity to tell readers to boycott Dana Stabenow's work. She writes mysteries...her most famous character is the Kate shugak/Alaska series. I just began reading her 2002 book: A Fine and Bitter Snow. In the opening she goes to visit her friend Dan O'Brien of the Alaska Park Service, only to find that he's lost his job. It is blamed on the Bush administration: "So you've been fired?" "Not exactly. Invited to take early retirement is more like it." She sighed, and said again, "I don't know Kate. At least Clinton and Gore had a...

Almost all who visit Gettysburg, best preserved of all the Civil War battlefields, find it a deeply moving experience. This is truly hallowed ground. Here, tens of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers fought the decisive battle of America's bloodiest war. From the first clash of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, to Lee's attempt turn the Union flank at Little Round Top on the second day, to Pickett's Charge against the Union center on Seminary Ridge on the third, to Lee's bleeding retreat back over the Potomac as a frustrated Abraham Lincoln wondered...

MUCH ABOUT HISTORY Feds fixing 'Southern bias'at U.S. parks Officials look to emphasize horrors of slavery at Civil War battlefields Posted: December 22, 2002 4:01 p.m. Eastern © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com The National Park Service is looking to rid itself of what it calls Southern bias at major Civil War battlefields and instead emphasize the horrors of slavery. According to Reuters, ground zero for the project is Gettysburg, site of the largest battle ever fought on American soil. Plans are going ahead to build a new visitors center and museum at a cost of $95 million that will completely change the...

<p>PHILADELPHIA — The National Park Service will not permit a Seabees reserve unit to hold a ceremony at the statue of Commodore John Barry, reputed father of the Navy, directly behind Independence Hall.</p> <p>The Seabees unit from Lakehurst Naval Engineering Station, N.J., wanted to bring in a Navy honor guard, lay a wreath and listen to a few words from a priest, but the unit was denied a permit from Independence National Historical Park.</p>