Flamingo backwaters offer tasty dining options
By Susan Cocking, Miami Herald - Sun, Feb 12, 2012 12:37 am
MIAMI — Captain Jimmy Rhodes has been fishing the backcountry rivers, creeks and bays of Everglades National Park since the 1950s. And Rhodes has been guiding anglers to quality fish in those waters since earning his U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license in the mid-1980s. But he’s not really that keen on catch-and-release gamefishing.
“I like to have a mission,” the former U.S. Army combat...
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How national parks rank in visits and spending
By Morgan Simmons, Scripps Howard News Service - Sat, Feb 4, 2012 11:07 pm
A new study by Michigan State University shows that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the top national park in the U.S. for visitor spending.
The "Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll" estimates that in 2010 the park's 9 million visitors spent more than $818 million in neighboring communities -- double the $415 million generated by Grand Canyon...
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Grizzly encounters may be Idaho’s new normal
By Rocky Barker, The Idaho Statesman - Wed, Nov 23, 2011 1:42 pm
BOISE — When Connie Funkhouser saw the fresh bear track heading into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest on her recent run, she turned around.
Grizzly bear encounters are up dramatically this year in Island Park, along the Snake River near the boundary with Yellowstone National Park. Funkhouser, who lives in a subdivision on the Henrys Lake flats below Sawtelle Peak, takes no chances.
A few years...
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Yosemite seeks a more diverse visitor base
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times - Thu, Nov 10, 2011 11:07 pm
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Their Yosemite Valley tour was nearing its end, and the church ladies and gents from South Los Angeles had heard enough. Almost.
“He’s been telling us stories he thinks we want to hear for two hours,” said Ann Hale, 70, heaving a sigh of frustration from the back of the tram.
In fact, guide William Fontana had been regaling his listeners — most of them white —...
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Huge Yosemite trail project is latest example of parks philanthropy
By Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News - Thu, Oct 13, 2011 5:22 pm
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For the last five years, hundreds of workers with mules, chain saws and shovels have built new wooden foot bridges on Yosemite National Park's backcountry hiking trails. They have rerouted popular paths to protect the roots of ancient sequoias in the park's Mariposa Grove. And they have installed new signs, stone walls and rock staircases across the famed John Muir Trail.
The...
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Quarry Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur National Monument celebrates exhibit, 96th anniversary
By - Thu, Oct 6, 2011 3:22 pm
JENSEN — The National Park Service is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the new Quarry Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur National Monument.
The new 10,500-square-foot visitor center and exhibit hall features a 50-foot high, 150-foot-long cliff with about 1,500 dinosaur bones.
The exhibit has been closed since 2006 due to structural damage. The re-opening ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at...
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Stargazers, national parks hope to save dark skies
By The Associated Press - Thu, Oct 6, 2011 3:13 pm
CEDAR CITY — Gazing skyward from his backyard, longtime southern Utah resident Abe Heck used to marvel at the Milky Way. Now he can’t even see it.
“I could see nebulas through the telescope in town,” he said. “Now you have to drive to the mountains or the desert to see a decent picture of the night sky.”
Under natural moonless conditions, the National Park Service said it is easy in some areas to...
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Black Hills of South Dakota provide varied fishing opportunities
By Michael Pearce, The Wichita Eagle - Sun, Sep 11, 2011 11:04 pm
BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST, S.D. — The brown trout looked the size of some salmon and wore neon colors of a brightness seldom seen without electricity.
Within seconds of Hans Stephenson setting the hook, we knew it would be the fish of a lifetime for most anglers.
As I watched the battle play out, I thought of something Stephenson had said after leaving another stretch of stream with fast action...
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Zion closes Kolob Canyon section due to a wildfire
By The Associated Press - Thu, Sep 1, 2011 12:21 pm
ZION NATIONAL PARK -- Zion National Park officials have closed trails in the Kolob Canyon section due to a wildfire.
Officials say all trails are closed in that northern section of the park just off Interstate 15 south of Cedar City, including LaVerkin Creek Trail, Hop Valley Trail and the Timber Creek Overlook Trail.
The Toquerville Falls Fire is located on Black Ridge on Bureau of Land...
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Hiking adventures of The Subway and Red Cave
By Stephanie Chambers, Standard-Examiner correspondent - Tue, Aug 16, 2011 11:37 pm
“Come on!” yelled the guy on the four-wheeler. “People do it all the time. I’m sure you’ll make it.”
He shrugged as if our Mercury Villager minivan was made for crossing rivers, and then zoomed across the river, the water tugging at the tops of his wheel wells.
“All right,” said Mike, my husband, taking a deep breath. And in we plunged.
This trip, a kid-free adventure in Zion National Park with a...
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