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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A conservation group's annual list of the 10 "most endangered" national parks has six holdovers from last year, still considered victims of dirty air, inadequate funding and bad policy. The National Parks Conservation Association again named Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas as well as five national parks: Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee; Joshua Tree in California; Shenandoah in Virginia; Everglades in Florida; and Yellowstone in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The group said air pollution threatens many of the parks. In addition, it said there are problems with private land sales and potential oil...

Gay footage will stay in Lincoln Memorial video Footage of gay rights demonstrations will not be removed from a Lincoln Memorial videotape, according to spokespeople from the National Park Service and the Human Rights Campaign. Earlier reports said the images would be removed. Footage of gay rights demonstrations will not be removed from a videotape shown at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, according to spokespeople from the National Park Service and the Human Rights Campaign. Earlier reports in various news outlets said the gay images would be removed. In a press release yesterday, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility...

<p>The Grand Canyon's tourist railroad on Friday proposed an ambitious $186 million high-speed train as a potential solution to traffic congestion on the South Rim.</p> <p>Grand Canyon Railway's proposal says that its eventual goal is eliminating all tourist vehicles from the South Rim, which is what the U.S. Park Service has said it wants.</p>

<p>Construction will begin soon on landscaped vehicle-barrier walls to thwart terrorist attacks on the Washington Monument, the National Park Service said yesterday, but plans for a tunnel leading to the monument were put on hold.</p> <p>"For security of the Washington Monument, a vehicle-barrier system has final approval," said Vikki Keys, acting superintendent of the Park Service. "Work will soon go forward."</p>

Underfunding of park said to endanger ability to provide services. Federal funding for the Blue Ridge Parkway falls 40 percent short of the costs of operating the 469-mile road, endangering the park's ability to serve its visitors and protect its scenic views, according to a study. The business plan released Tuesday was prepared for the parkway by graduate business school students at Harvard, Emory and the University of California-Berkeley. It says the parkway's base budget has grown only by 0.5 percent over inflation since 1980. Meanwhile, visitation increased by 2.2 percent annually from 1989 to 2002 -- from 16.1 million...

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...

National Park Service Launches New Web Site to Highlight Hispanic Heritage Parks; New Web Site is Part of an Iberian Project 10/6/03 11:23:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: John Wright of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 202-208-6416 WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- National Park Service Director Fran Mainella has announced the availability of a new web site designed to highlight the importance of Hispanic Heritage Parks and the part they play in the nation's history. The new site titled, "Hispanic Heritage Parks: An Iberian Project," assists visitors in experiencing the nation's Hispanic heritage that is preserved...

New Appraisal Says Ravensford is Worth $3.5 Million; Appraisal Raises Questions About Great Smoky Mountains Land Swap 9/16/03 11:29:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: City Desk, Environment Reporter Contact: Andrea Keller, 202-454-3332, or Greg Kidd, 865-329-2424 ext. 26, both of the National Parks Conservation Association; http://www.eparks.org KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today announced the findings of an independent appraisal that puts the value of Ravensford, a tract of land proposed for transfer out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at $3.5 million, compared with the approximately $500,000 value of the land near the...

National parks suffer from chronic money shortfall: study DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) Sep 12, 2003 National parks and protected areas worldwide are suffering from a chronic shortfall of money and need an additional 2.5 billion dollars per year, experts said Friday. "We are not talking about some unaffordable luxury here. It is a realistic and absolutely essential figure," said Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge who participated in a joint study presented to the World Parks Congress in South Africa. The once-a-decade parks congress, under way in the eastern port city of Durban, is dicussing the world's 100,000...

A history-laden effort to highlight Beaufort County as the national birthplace of the South's Reconstruction era has stirred tension in the Lowcountry. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group of Civil War veterans' descendants, wants to stop the effort to federally protect several sites honoring South Carolina's and Beaufort County's prominent historical roles in the post-Civil War period. "If the National Park Service wants to honor blacks being free from slavery and blacks getting the right to vote, that's fine," said Michael Givens, first lieutenant of the state division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "Just don't do it under...

PC Peace Corps Posted: August 19, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com George Bush's Peace Corps is contributing your hard-earned tax dollars to the cause of cultural revolution –specifically the promotion of the radical homosexual political agenda. One recent example is a proclamation by Bush's Peace Corps director, Gaddi Vasquez, designating June as "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month" in his agency. "Pride Month is a time to appreciate and celebrate contributions that Gay and Lesbian [Americans] have made to our society," Vasquez said in making the proclamation. "The Peace Corps is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce reflective of...

<p>''He who plants a tree, plants a hope," wrote Lucy Larcom at the beginning of her poem "Plant a Tree." Her words continue to resonate today, especially for those traveling to national parks this summer. However, it is difficult to appreciate the joy or the peace of wilderness areas when access is difficult due to weather-damaged roads, lodging is uncomfortable due to leaking lodge roofs and sparking electrical systems, and non-wilderness scents are overpowering due to broken water-filtration systems and off-line waste-water treatment plants.</p>

Sequoia Crushes SUV In National Park POSTED: 4:46 p.m. PDT August 18, 2003 SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- A 200-foot-tall giant sequoia tree fell along Sequoia National Park's main road, crushing a vehicle into a several-foot high pile of crumpled metal, park officials said Monday. The tree, believed to be approximately 1,000 years old, fell Sunday at about 5:15 p.m. along the Generals Highway several miles east of the Giant Forest Museum, said park spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet. No one was injured but the Jeep Grand Cherokee was destroyed, Picavet said. The vehicle was parked in a turnout alongside the road....

<p>A WAR IS RAGING. It involves lands essential to our nation, and will dramatically affect future generations. No, I am not speaking of Iraq or Afghanistan. This war is right here: the Bush administration's radical, all-out attack on America's wilderness and public lands.</p>

<p>THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — President Bush yesterday called on Congress to spend billions upgrading America's national parks because "we want the toilets to flush."</p> <p>"We've got to get a commitment from the appropriators in Congress to spend enough money to maintain our parks," he said during a hike through Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. "And so I'm calling on Congress to spend $5 billion over the next five years."</p>

Environmentalists burn while Bush promotes park plan By BILL STRAUB Scripps Howard News Service August 06, 2003 WASHINGTON - President Bush has issued his prescription for what ails the deteriorating national park system, but environmentalists and conservationists are becoming increasingly wary about his actions. Bush, in the midst of a month-long vacation at his ranch, will break away from the blistering Texas heat next week to visit the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near Los Angeles. The administration says the spot has benefited from its National Parks Legacy Project. Later in the month, Bush will head to Oregon to...

Busted! Drug dealers are planting pot farms all over our national parks, and the Park Service is struggling to root them out. Armed combat is hardly what families hope to encounter as they head for their summer vacations in America's national parks and forests. But drug smugglers, methamphetamine cooks and cannabis cultivators are invading federal lands as never before. A U.S. Park Service ranger in Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was gunned down by a Mexican pot smuggler last August. In Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest, 192 meth labs have been dismantled over the past three years. And marijuana...

O C I E T Y Busted! Drug dealers are planting pot farms all over our national parks, and the Park Service is struggling to root them out. TIME goes on a raid By MARGOT ROOSEVELT I AUBURN, CALIF. TODD BIGELOW/AURORA FOR TIME Going In: At dawn, Rangers search for a marijuana farm in Tahoe National Forest Sunday, Jul. 27, 2003 A blue-gray dawn tickles the tops of the ponderosa pines at the Sugar Pine Recreation Area in California's Tahoe National Forest. Campers slumber in lakeside tents; bikers have yet to hit the trails. But all is not quiet on...

Busted! Drug dealers are planting pot farms all over our national parks, and the Park Service is struggling to root them out. TIME goes on a raid By MARGOT ROOSEVELT I AUBURN, CALIF. Going In: At dawn, Rangers search for a marijuana farm in Tahoe National Forest Sunday, Jul. 27, 2003 A blue-gray dawn tickles the tops of the ponderosa pines at the Sugar Pine Recreation Area in California's Tahoe National Forest. Campers slumber in lakeside tents; bikers have yet to hit the trails. But all is not quiet on this cool July morning. A platoon of camouflaged figures equipped...

A blue-gray dawn tickles the tops of the ponderosa pines at the Sugar Pine Recreation Area in California's Tahoe National Forest. Campers slumber in lakeside tents; bikers have yet to hit the trails. But all is not quiet on this cool July morning. A platoon of camouflaged figures equipped with rifles, pistols and bulletproof vests creep through manzanita brush with a police dog. Their objective: a marijuana plantation a few hundred yards from a well-traveled tourist area. As the Forest Service rangers stealthily approach, an unsuspecting Mexican laborer named Pedro Villa García, 51, stands in a clearing. All around him...

<p>PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) -- After more than three decades at the Grand Canyon, three bronze plaques inscribed with biblical passages have been removed by U.S. park officials over concern that the religious messages violate the U.S. Constitution, officials said Monday.</p>

The National Park Service removed plaques with Bible verses from the Grand Canyon after the American Civil Liberties Union claimed they violated separation of church and state. But the park service decided that one of the main trails down into the canyon can still be called 'Bright Angel' and that a number of the canyons formations can be named after Hindu gods.The plaques had been on display at the Grand Canoyns south rim for more than 30 years and inculded the following verses from the book of Psalms.68:4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift a song up...

<p>The National Park Service has decided that plaques with biblical psalms at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon violate the Constitution and has removed them.</p> <p>However, the Park Service decided one of the main trails into Grand Canyon may carry the name Bright Angel, and a number of the Canyon's formations can share the names of Hindu gods.</p>

<p>MONTICELLO, Utah -- A narrow, grass-choked path branches off from a gravel road miles from the nearest town, meandering through juniper and pinyon trees for a few hundred feet until it ends abruptly at an overlook of spectacular red-rock canyons.</p>

Eco Logic06/15/2003 And your state, too... The Biodiversity-Socialist Movement in Pennsylvania By Dr. N. Charles Bolgiano Landowners and sportsmen in Pennsylvania are beginning to learn how devastating, threatening and costly the Biodiversity - Socialist movement in Pennsylvania has become. It is not only a serious threat to hunting sports, but goes much further, by threatening the very foundations on which this Nation was founded, namely, the 1st and 2nd Amendments of the Constitution, and the basic right to own property. Several years ago (1996-97) the State was paid a visit by Maurice Strong, a Canadian Socialist, and chief organizer of...

BARSTOW -- The tarp the National Park Service removed from the Mojave Cross last month is back after two judges clarified the intent of a stay they issued last month. A common interpretation of their stay was that the Mojave Cross could remain uncovered while its constitutionality is on appeal. But the judges have now clarified that they meant the cross could stay where it is, but with the tarp covering it. Wanda Sandoz, a Mountain Pass retiree who has looked after the cross for years with her husband, Henry, was disappointed to see a tarp on the cross again....

Lower Greenbrier River Byway Wins Grant to Make Plan by Chris Chanlett The Lower Greenbrier River Byway project is awaking from a long winter’s nap. Recently the West Virginia Department of Transportation informed the group that its grant application to write a Corridor Management Plan [ this is the whole problem right here, they get the money , write up their plan, then the WVDOH and The NPS, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife and so on, come into play, rip up the local’s plan, and then goes to the process of Environmental Impact Plans, that turn out to not get...

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...

Democrats say job competitions could hurt diversity at Park Service By Jason Peckenpaugh jpeckenpaugh@govexec.com A White House program to put federal jobs up for competition with private contractors could hurt workplace diversity at the National Park Service, a group of House Democrats said Friday. The Democrats, led by Reps. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will ask the Office of Management and Budget to review Park Service plans to comply with the president’s competitive sourcing initiative, which aims to put 425,000 federal jobs up for public-private competition. They are rounding up signatories to a letter to Joshua Bolten,...

National Park Service ...Friend or Foe? What an interesting question! We have all been reared to believe that the NPS was so good for the preservation and conservation of lands for the protection of future generations. Well, many have screamed out against the NPS since around the early 70’s, but their voices fell on deaf ears or those ears that did not have the time or inclination to listen. And of course the lack of media coverage to bring the pro’s and con’s to the awareness level of the public commons....those of us that live on the land and really...

National Park Service ...Friend or Foe? What an interesting question! We have all been reared to believe that the NPS was so good for the preservation and conservation of lands for the protection of future generations. Well, many have screamed out against the NPS since around the early 70’s, but their voices fell on deaf ears or those ears that did not have the time or inclination to listen. And of course the lack of media coverage to bring the pro’s and con’s to the awareness level of the public commons....those of us that live on the land and really...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARK WARS, PART 1 Debate roars over future of Yosemite Protesters, communities mobilize to fight Clinton-era anti-car plan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 12, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series exploring the controversy surrounding a massive plan underway by the U.S. Park Service to reduce the level of human access to America's most beloved national park – Yosemite. In this installment, WND explains the history of the plan and the efforts of local communities to put a stop to it. By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In late December 1996, a tropical storm...

Congress drew a circle around the 75,000 acres in the New River Gorge National River in 1978. It's taken the National Park Service (NPS) less than 25 years to take-over 65,000 of those acres. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) just obtained more tax dollars for the NPS to take 6,800 more acres in the area, while Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) got millions more for a new NPS visitor center, currently under construction, to serve as the front door to the New River Scenic Parkway. Some land is donated to the NPS (as required by law), some is bought outright, some is...

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) -- Procter & Gamble Co. agreed to air a disclaimer in a Metamucil commercial featuring Old Faithful to mollify the National Park Service. Created last year, the commercial features a Yellowstone National Park ranger pouring a glass of Metamucil into the geyser to help it stay regular. The commercial sparked criticism from the Park Service, which said the park's geothermal features can be damaged by dumping things into them, and venturing near geysers and hot springs can be dangerous. Although Procter & Gamble said most TV viewers would realize the commercial was a joke, it agreed to...

Letter to the Editor The environmental war on the west that destroyed whole communities is here in the east , southeast , far south, as well as the north. That means basically that the environmental war is everywhere now in these great United States! What is this war? It is a well orchestrated environmental movement using federal regulations that is destroying the livelihoods of rural Americans all across the country. The main weapons of this war is such wonderful propaganda and rhetorical terminology such as “preservation and conservation” From these two words alone come some of the most horrific instances...

American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network PO Box 400 - Battle Ground WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973 - Email: - http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 508 First St SE - Washington DC 20003 Phone: 202-210-2357 - Fax: 202-543-7126 - Email: landrightsnet@aol.com "Heritage Area" Zoning Scam Returns! *** "Heritage Area" Zoning Bill Alert!*** Scheduled for House Floor Vote Within TWO WEEKS!!! YOUR Hard Work Seriously Wounded it in Committee More Hard Work Can Help Kill it On the House Floor ACTION ITEMS BELOW!!! As early as the week of July 15, the House of Representatives will consider legislation attacking...

*****APC NEWS WIRE***** http://www.americanpolicy.org/ June 24, 2002 Volume 5, Issue 7 A Publication of the American Policy Center Tom DeWeese, President Peyton Knight, Editor 98 Alexandria Pike, Suite 43 Warrenton, VA 20186 540-341-8911 FAX: 540-341-8917 apc@americanpolicy.org APC is now offering you a quick and easy way to multiply your efforts and help win more battles! Simply click http://www.referralblast.com/rblast.asp?sid=5906 to send this APC Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends! It’s fast, it’s easy, and most of all, it’s extremely effective in KILLING LEFTIST POLICIES! *** “Sisters of the River” Victims of Heritage Area Land Grab This just in...

Sheila Davis PO BOX 202 Jumping Branch, WV 25969 PHONE: (304) 466-3676 FAX: (Same, picks up on 4th ring) country357@stargate.net Fred VanKirk, P.E. Secretary/Highways Commissioner West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East * Build Five * Room 110 Charleston, WV 25305-0430 * (304) 558-3505 Dear Mr. VanKirk: I am in receipt of your letter dated May 28, 2002 concerning State Project X241-125-0.00 02, New River Parkway, Raleigh and Summers County. I must say that this letter is of grave concern to me in that along with the letter is an enclosed map, "SANDSTONE FALLS ADDITION",...

To: "country357" > Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2002 1:40 AM > Subject: an attachment to the scenic highway picture in WV! **** Please is the hyperlink does not open correctly, will someone that can and know how copy and paste the picture?**** > > > > *trying to copy and paste this because I don't think the hyper link is > > working > > The following link does display a truly beautiful Scenic Highway in WV with > of a remarkedly well kept roadway, all black and pretty and the > strips newly painted with out a pot hole...

In today's Hinton News, Doug Tolbert, Coordinator of the New River Parkway Authority, is begging for letters IN support of the New River Parkway! This is the road to no where! Yet it will deprive landowners of their homes and heritages, as well as cost ALL taxpayers over 35 Million dollars because it will be 80% federally funded! Mr. Tolbert's comments include such statements as.."because of a 'few opponents' we stand to lose federal funds!" The same funds that would strip families of their livelihoods and heritages, as well as the taxpayers all across America for a roadway that goes...

West Virginia landowners fight viewshed plan When Ann Roach of Ironton, Ohio visited the steep mountainsides of Hinton, West Virginia, she fell in love with the majesty and peace of the hills. She and her husband built a summer cabin there in 1995. Little did she know that her adopted countryside would be a battleground where she and her neighbors would fight for their homes and their livelihoods. This grandmother of nine came reluctantly to the fight. At first, Ann and her neighbors embraced a plan by the New River Parkway Authority (NRPA) to rebuild their hairpin mountain road and...