National Park News

Yosemite National Park and The Ansel Adams Gallery are sponsoring a Gateway Expressions Student Art and Poetry Contest to celebrate the creativity of youth in the Yosemite gateway communities. The contest is open to all students, grades K-12, attending a school or youth program associated with the gateway community school districts of Yosemite National Park. Interested parties should submit artwork and poetry no later than Friday, October 7, 2011.

Yosemite National Park, in collaboration with Breaking Barriers, will participate in a community forum in Mariposa designed to explore socioeconomic and cultural barriers to outdoor activity participation. The meeting will be held at the Ethos Youth Center in Mariposa, California, on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (with the focus on youth) and 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (with the focus on the larger community). A pizza dinner and beverages will be provided. The Ethos Youth Center is located at: 5079 Highway 140, Suite B, Mariposa, CA 95338.

Efforts associated with this annual event contribute to the beauty and restoration of parks and other open spaces where the public hike, bike, climb, and explore.

Yellowstone National Park is soliciting comments for a proposed project to replace a portion of trail connecting the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful to Biscuit Basin.

Zion National Park Fire Management Officials plan to ignite the 654 acre Clear Trap Prescribed Fire (Rx) sometime during the period of September 26 – October 15, 2011.

The Southeast Utah Group parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Hovenweep, and Natural Bridges) are beginning a process to develop a soundscape management plan and associated environmental assessment.

The Southeast Utah Group parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Hovenweep, and Natural Bridges) are beginning a process to develop a soundscape management plan and associated environmental assessment.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will offer a 2 ½-hour stargazing program in Cades Cove on September 24 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in cooperation with the Smoky Mountains Astronomical Society.

Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent Vaughn Baker announced that Bruce Rosenlund, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (USFWS) is the recipient of the 2010 Rocky Mountain National Park Stewardship Award.

On Saturday, September 24, at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park, join park ranger, Kristen Luetkemeier for a closer look at the Civilian Conservation Corps program in the park.

A special evening program will take place at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 23. Doc Wild (formerly the “Critterman”) is just one of the alter-egos of Denny Olson, who for more than 30 years has been a student and teacher of the natural world.

The North Cascades National Park fire management team is preparing for a potential prescribed burn in the Stehekin Valley. The exact timing will be determined by environmental conditions, such as weather and fuel moisture. Visitors and residents should expect to see smoke. After ignition is complete, burn crews will begin mopping up to minimize smoke impacts, especially if the burn occurs before or during the first full week of October when businesses offer special visitor packages in conjunction with fall colors and the Harvest Festival.

The proposed project would correct deficiencies in road conditions and related safety concerns

Fire Management staff at Denali National Park and Preserve will burn piles of debris in Kantishna, at the western end of the Denali Park Road, beginning late evening on Monday, September 19 and continuing through Friday, September 23, conditions permitting. The debris pile is located in a gravel pit near the junction of Eureka Creek and the park road.

The busy summer season has ended at Denali National Park and Preserve, and visitors can now drive private vehicles on the Denali Park Road as far as the Teklanika River Rest Area at Mile 30, weather permitting. Visitors are advised to call ahead for weather and road information, as conditions can change rapidly at this time of the year.

A report by an interagency investigation team into a July fatal bear attack in Yellowstone has been released.

An estimated 70 lightning strikes ignited five small fires in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Junior Ranger program teaches survival skills for those that may find themselves lost in the wilderness.

Visitors Reminded to be Prepared for Outdoor Activities

JoshuaTreeNP: Entrance fees waived on 9/24. Volunteer 4 hours and earn future free entrance at any national park or site. http://ht.ly/6yUeA ~sk

This week biologists will begin an effort to restore native Westslope cutthroat trout to Goose Lake and two nearby lakes.

You can make a difference in the care and protection of Mammoth Cave National Park. Come volunteer in the park 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. on September 24, National Public Lands Day. The park will also offer free Discovery and Mammoth Passage cave tours in honor of the day.

On National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 24, 2011, more than a hundred volunteers will assemble at Mount Rainier National Park to plant native plants, maintain trails, and rededicate the Glacier Basin Trail after four summers of repairs.

Yesterday at approximately 1:00 p.m., the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center, located within Grand Canyon National Park, received a call from a private river runner via satellite phone reporting a fatality on the Colorado River near Lava Falls.

Badlands National Park will commemorate the rediscovery of black-footed ferrets in the wild with a Ferret Festival from September 24-26, 2011.

On Saturday, September 24, 2011, Mesa Verde National Park will join National Park Service sites around the country in celebrating National Public Lands Day with free admission for park visitors.

Superintendent Susan L. Boudreau today announces a bear advisory for the Bartlett River Trail.

The Point Fire, on the eastern shore of Yellowstone Lake, has grown slowly in recent days and is now estimated at 1,800 acres.

In celebration of the park’s 75th Anniversary, Shenandoah National Park and the 75th Anniversary Planning Committee will host a temporary photography exhibit entitled Shenandoah Views at Skyland Resort from September 24 to October 6, 2011.

Shenandoah National Park invites you to become one of thousands of volunteers on public lands across the country to celebrate service and recreation on National Public Lands Day 2011!

The park will be hosting an event at the Byrd Visitor Center and in the Big Meadows Area at milepost 51.2 along Skyline Drive. Following a short informative presentation, participants will assist with field work in the Big Meadows area. The service project will take place within the meadow and will include using loppers and/or folding handsaws to cut small-sized black locust trees. Leather gloves and other needed equipment will be provided.