National Park News

Park will hold public meetings November 9 and 10 to answer questions on proposed Pole and Troll Zone in Florida Bay

November 2009 Coe Visitor Center Art Exhibit

Twenty-three bison from the mixed-grass prairie of Wind Cave National Park will soon be on their way to the high desert of Mexico.

Twenty-three bison from the mixed-grass prairie of Wind Cave National Park will soon be on their way to the high desert of Mexico.

Over the next five months, weather conditions permitting, fixed wing and helicopter flights will occur over Rocky Mountain National Park while staff surveys and estimates elk populations in the park.

The Glacier Point Road construction delays will be extended through Saturday, October 31 and Saturday November 7, 2009 in order to complete paving on the road.

All application material must be post marked by November 7, 2009

Roads into the interior of Yellowstone National Park close to automobile traffic at eight o’clock Monday morning, November second.  After that date, there will be no auto travel to places like Old Faithful, Canyon, and Fishing Bridge until the deep winter snowpack is cleared from the roads in the spring. This seasonal closure allows the park to make preparations to reopen for snowmobile and snowcoach travel beginning December 15, 2009.

Halloween Slough Slog at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park

The Denali Subsistence Resource Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 4 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Murie Science and Learning Center (MSLC) in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Visitors are encouraged to park at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and board a free shuttle bus

On October 8, 2009, Acadia National Park opened the Orange and Black Path, which has been closed since the earthquake that occurred in October of 2006. The trail was formerly known as the Champlain East Face Trail.

The NPS is soliciting public comment on a proposal by the U.S. Coast Guard to install and operate radio communication installations in the Glacier Bay backcountry. 

Yosemite National Park’s meadows, trails and wildlife are better off thanks to a $5.8 million contribution by the nonprofit Yosemite Fund.

Interested members of the public now have another option for connecting to Glacier Bay.

Bears are out and active this time of year in the Greater Yellowstone area, including the Gallatin National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, the Beartooth Ranger District of the Custer National Forest, and state and private lands.

Park Superintendent Martha Bogle announced today that portions of the Skyline Drive, the famed mountain road through Shenandoah National Park, will be closed at night during hunting season.  She noted that this is the thirtieth year that this closure has been undertaken and stressed its importance at reducing illegal hunting activity within the park, a sanctuary for wildlife, during the Commonwealth's hunting season outside the park.

The Tioga and Glacier Point Roads in Yosemite National Park have reopened.  The roads were closed earlier this week due to snow and icy conditions.

Shorter days and cooler nights remind us that the autumn travel season will come to an end, and signal the closing of facilities at Shenandoah National Park.  Superintendent Martha Bogle announced today that facilities will begin closing at the beginning of November.

Trail Ridge Road officially closed for the season today.

At 12:15 p.m. today, October 13, park dispatch received a cell phone call concerning a 72-year-old man who was suffering from a possible heart attack on the Dream Lake Trail in the Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain National Park.       

Fire managers had originally planned to initiate the Hance-Watson1 Fire in late September/early October.  However, dropping humidity and rising winds caused them to postpone the burn.  Fire managers now plan to initiate the Hance-Watson1-Hearst Tank Fire within the next 30 days.

The National Park Service will be conducting erosion control and abutment work on Tumwater Bridge along the Stehekin Valley Road in North Cascades National Park. The construction will temporarily close the Stehekin Road to all vehicle, bicycle, and foot traffic above Tumwater Campground beginning October 26, 2009. Work is expected to be ongoing through mid-November. The Tumwater Bridge endured flood damage and erosion during and since the 2003 flood.

On Friday, October 16, 2009, a 49-year-old man died of what appears to have been a case of heat stroke following a prolonged hike in unseasonably hot weather on Santa Cruz Island within Channel Islands National Park.

Branch Chief for Interpretive Services in Yosemite National Park, Mary Kline, was the recipient of a National Park Service (NPS) National Accessibility Achievement Award in the “Programmatic Accessibility Achievement” category.  

The Heart of the Continent Partnership (HOCP) is a cross-border collaborative effort to bring together as many voices as possible to share ideas and learn about different perspectives affecting the border lakes region. On Thursday, October 22, interested organizations and individuals are invited to attend an afternoon presentation at the Bois Forte Heritage Center and a review of the successful Canoe the Heart summer event at Camp du Nord in Ely, Minnesota.

Biologists and ecologists from the National Park Service and the Tamarisk Coalition, based in Grand Junction, Colorado, recently found the first tamarisk leaf beetle (Diorhabda spp.) in Grand Canyon National Park.

Oconaluftee Visitor Center will host a special program on Birds of Prey combined with a special Evening on the Farm at the Mountain Farm Museum on Thursday, October 22.

The Glacier Point and Tioga Roads in Yosemite National Park are closed due to snow and ice on the roadways.

In partnership with the Dart Corporation, Mammoth Cave National Park’s Integrated Solid Waste Alternative Plan (ISWAP) hit a bull’s-eye on its first target – to increase its already hefty recycling program.