Free Republic

This is how much budget trouble the state of California is in: It's about to run out of toilet paper in its rural parks. California's red ink budget is immensely complicated because of voter-approved ballot initiatives, federal rules and court decisions. But this internal e-mail within Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Finance Department is plenty simple: "Bottom line: Remote rural state parks will likely run out of toilet paper by early October." Pressing a deadline, I was unable to dig deep enough to learn precisely which parks, let alone privies… I did learn that the problem involves banks canceling a state credit...

New York City officials want to take their smoking ban outdoors. City officials announced new legislation on Wednesday that would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk. Violators could be issued quality-of-life summonses by the parks department and pedestrian plazas throughout the city.

According to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, 61-year-old Eddie M. Campbell from Belle was caught at Booker T. Washington Memorial Park in Malden with his shirt off and his pants around his ankles.

Wildlife officials have killed a grizzly bear in Wyoming and a grizzly bear in Montana to head-off potential lawsuits. The Montana grizzly killed and partially consumed Kevin Kammer at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City, Mont. on July 29. The Wyoming grizzly killed 70 year-old botanist Erwin Evert on June 17 on the Shoshone National Forest near the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The circumstances were quite different, but the decision to kill the bears was undoubtedly influenced by a 1996 court case over the terrible bear mauling of 16 year-old Anna Knochel at a U.S. Forest...

In an insane case of political correctness, a federal government agency has classified an illegal immigrant arrested for cultivating marijuana in a national forest as a “displaced traveler from Michoacán Mexico.” The illegal alien (Gauldry Almonte-Hernandez) was recently busted during a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Operation raid of illegally grown marijuana plants in northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. So far this month, the feds have eradicated more than 92,000 marijuana plants throughout the 2.1 million acre national forest that encompasses five wilderness areas and hundreds of mountain lakes. In the first few days of July alone, about 50,000 plants...

Crime is on the rise in California's state parks, up nearly threefold in the past decade, according to Department of Parks and Recreation data analyzed by The Sacramento Bee Marijuana cultivation in the parks also is increasing. In 2009, 35 incidents were reported, up from 30 the previous year and only four in 1999. Visitors to state parks seem to have noticed the growth in crime. A 2007 survey by the state Parks Department found people citing gang activity, alcohol and drug use, and concerns about personal safety as reasons to stay away. At Millerton Lake State Recreation Area near...

Senator Hugh T. Farley (R,C,I – Schenectady) joined business and environmental groups in criticizing the legislation that promised to open State parks only if the Legislature agreed to impose millions of dollars in new taxes and fees while also sweeping a tremendous amount of money out of the Environmental Protection Fund, which supports numerous environmental, agricultural and local government programs. “New York has some of the most beautiful natural and historic resources in the entire nation, and we have been fighting all year long to save the 55 state parks and historic sites that Governor Paterson unilaterally decided to close,”...

Residents Not Pleased With Gov. Paterson's Latest Attempt To Get Legislature's Attention On Overdue Budget HARLEM (CBS) -- Even as the governor cut the ribbon Monday he slashed hours and services at many New York State parks – and outright closed a number of them. David Paterson admitted it's a desperate measure to save money, with the state budget deep in the red and long overdue. Marion Murray is a Riverbank State Park regular one of thousands who work out, enjoy a family picnic or take in the Hudson River views at what many consider West Harlem's backyard. "It is...

A bill has been introduced in the Louisiana legislature that can capitalize on the momentum from the national parks rule change by updating their law to allow for carry in state parks. On Friday, State Senator Troy Hebert submitted SB534: "PARKS: Allows the possession of firearms on certain state lands.‏" It will amend the existing Title 56 that deals with state parks as follows: A person who lawfully possesses a firearm may possess or transport such firearm within the boundaries of a state park, state historic site, state preservation area, or other lands under the jurisdiction and control of the...

US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today suggested combining the Big Bend National Park in west Texas with the Monumento Natural del Rio Bravo across the river in Mexico, to form the Big Bend/Rio Bravo International Park. "The United States and Mexico are neighbors sharing a beautiful treasure," Salazar said today during a tour of the Big Bend. "Our two nations could and should engage in an even higher level of cooperation to conserve this remarkable area and its wildlife, while providing more opportunity for visitors to enjoy it." Actually, the idea of combining the two parks is not new...it was...

DELHI — The Delaware County Board of Supervisors passed resolutions Wednesday opposing proposed antigun owners legislation and protesting the closing of Oquaga Creek State Park. Delhi Supervisor Peter Bracci presented a resolution opposing bills passed in the state Assembly that he said would have a detrimental effect on hunters, sportsmen and legal gun owners and would curtail rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The list included 11 bills that include provisions requiring the renewal of firearms licenses after five years, stringent restrictions on firearms dealers, new training requirements, banning the sale of weapons that are .50-caliber or larger, and others....

Anthony Bries lends new meaning to the term "weekend warrior." During the week, he works as a home inspector in his town of Baraboo, Wisc. But on weekends for the past two years, he has indulged his passion: teaching anyone who wants to know how to shoot military-style rifles – such as the AR-15, prized for its low recoil. As a senior instructor with the grassroots, three-year-old U.S. rifle instruction program The Appleseed Project, Bries teaches shooting techniques usually encountered only in the police or military. He isn't paid for his trouble, but he doesn't care. To him, if he...

National Parks are reserves that display America's natural beauty to the public. Some people find them places of solitude, where they can go sightseeing, vacation, and camp out in the wild. A visit to a national park is considerably cheaper than the conventional family-of-four vacation. But while protecting your wallet, you might also want to protect yourself. Being alone or even with a small group out in the wild can be frightening. Considering the many violent events that have and can occur in national parks, and also to honor current rights according to visitors' home state, Congress recently lifted a...

Hold up on those plans to re-take Fort Sumter -- it's not going to be as easy as it sounds. On Monday, a federal rule went into effect that allows folks to carry loaded guns inside national parks. This has been a political football for years, but finally was signed into law last year by President Barack Obama. Who knew he was such a gun enthusiast? There's a catch, however. Bob Dodson, superintendent at Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, says gunslingers still can't pack heat inside the actual forts. Or their visitors centers. Or on the boat out to Sumter....

Beginning today, law-abiding gun owners can possess guns in national park and forest lands. But the anti-rights movement is pulling out their propaganda guns in an attempt to confuse and disparage gun owners. Last May, Senator Coburn attached an amendment to the credit card reform bill making its way through Congress. Despite some voting rules attempting to remove the amendment, it survived even President Obama’s veto power. (For the story behind the story, see my special report.) Now, state laws on gun possession and concealed carry are in force when you enter national parklands. For example, if you have a...

The fact that a new law allowing loaded guns in national parks went into effect on the same day (today) as rules imposing restrictions on credit card companies is no coincidence: In a nice illustration of the way things work in Congress, the guns bill was attached as an amendment to the (completely-unrelated) credit card legislation back in May. The new rule allows people to carry firearms, including semi-automatic weapons, in most national parks and wildlife refuges, so long as they follow the gun laws of the state. (That could get a little complicated, as more than 30 parks occupy...

A two-decade-old ban on loaded guns in national parks ends today. Loaded guns will be allowed in Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, and other national parks. Guns will still be prohibited in some areas in the parks, federal facilities that are regularly staffed by National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, but everywhere else they will be allowed. “You're raising the level of risk in the parks, and the chance that people will use the parks less than they have in the past,” Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign gun control group warned during...

Area State Parks on the closure list02/20/2010 02:00:00 pm StaffReport ALBANY, Feb 20, 2010--- In an effort to offset an $8.2 billion state budget deficit, Governor David A. Paterson has announced a list of State Parks that will be closing as part of an effort to save some $35 million. On Friday, the Office of Parks and Recreation put forward a recommended list of closures and service reductions to help address the State's historic fiscal difficulties, and five local parks and sites are on the list. The Oriskany Battlefield in Oriskany and the General Herkimer Home in Herkimer are among...

The St. Augustine local news desk has learned that a new law will take effect on February 22nd concerning the possession of firearms and ammunition in national parks. The law repeals a National Park Service rule that has long prohibited Americans from lawfully possessing firearms in national parks for self-defense. The new law, passed last spring by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate, will allow people to possess, carry and transport firearms in national parks, in accordance with state law. However, many details remain to be worked out, according to the National Rifle Association of America, Institute for...

A group of retired U.S. Park Service employees is warning that visitors at national parks will soon be seeing handguns and rifles at the nation’s parks because of a law sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, last year. The law, which goes into effect in less than two weeks, will allow people to carry firearms in parks located in states that permit the carrying of concealed weapons. Coburn’s controversial amendment was included on a bill to put new restrictions on credit card companies. Here’s a quote from Coburn from last May: “It’s not about guns. It’s about states’ rights —...