As always, if you see parks news that people should be aware of, please feel free to add it along or to send me an e-mail.

Thanks,
James

Banff National Park – Canada
Tourism blooms in Wild Rose Country:
Province attracting more visitors despite pain of above-par currency
Geoffrey Scotton, Calgary Herald
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news...k=29267&p=2

Glacier National Park
Glacier National park officials - Howitzer ban in limbo:
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
WEST GLACIER - Glacier National Park officials want to deny a railroad's request to bomb the park's avalanche alleys with howitzers, but that denial is on hold and many blame political interference from Washington, D.C.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/03/news/local/znews03.txt

Grand Canyon
A Journey of Powering Off into a Simple Life (a Story):
Holidays in the Grand Canyon a story by Lucia Stewart
My down coat and flip-flops are packed. I placed my toothbrush in a plastic bag and an 11-book, 2-map library into a waterproof container. I’ve sorted and organized food and my daily life for a departure and descent into the Grand Canyon for a 23-day river trip over Christmas and New Years. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/a_journey_of_powering_off_into_a_simple_life/C74/L38/

Tribe hopes Skywalk leads to bright future:
After numerous delays and amid growing buzz that drew attention from all over the world, in March the Hualapai Nation opened their controversial, $30 million steel and glass Skywalk over the Canyon.
http://www.grandcanyonnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=7004

Year in Review:
Mining firms seek permits to explore forest
The Forest Service put out a call for public comment on a mining company's request to do exploratory drilling for uranium in the Red Butte and Upper Basin areas of the Tusayan Ranger District.
http://www.grandcanyonnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=7003


Grand Teton/Yellowstone NP
Guns in Yellowstone?
Sen. Crapo wants firearms allowed in national parks
By JOYCE EDLEFSEN
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has asked Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to lift regulations "that keep law-abiding citizens from transporting and carrying firearms on certain public lands."
http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/doc476977a25516b896412019.txt

Interagency Bison Management Plan:
State and Federal Agencies Predict Busy Winter for Bison Management
By David Nolt, 12-06-07
Bison are powerful American icons and stir deep emotions in many different people. The Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) meeting in Bozeman last Tuesday night was testament to this; dreadlocks and cowboy hats commingled as officials from federal and state agencies presented an update on the IBMP and answered an array of questions on what they predicted the coming winter would hold for Yellowstone’s bison.
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/sta...on_man/C74/L38/

Old and Faithful Debate - Yellowstone Opens for Winter Season:
By David Nolt, 12-19-07
The interior of Yellowstone National Park opens for the winter season today amid--surprise--much controversy surrounding the limits on snowmobiles allowed in the park per day.
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/yellowstone_national_park_opens_for_winter_season/C74/L38/

Species, visitor effects still key issues at park:
By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff
Three years after Yellowstone National Park was taken off an international list of threatened places, officials there continue to address issues that put it on the list in 1995.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/27/news/state/22-unpark.txt

State Agency Unveils Wolf Proposal:
by the Associated Press
JACKSON - Draft regulations proposed by the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish would allow ranchers to kill gray wolves that prey on livestock, while wildlife managers could kill wolves that try to take elk on state feed grounds.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/30/news/wyoming/24-proposal.txt


Great Smokey Mountain NP
Cherokee National Forest closes trails to stop erosion:
The Associated Press
Originally published 01:30 p.m., December 25, 2007
Updated 01:30 p.m., December 25, 2007
TELLICO PLAINS, Tenn. - The U.S. Forest Service is closing off-road vehicle trails in the Cherokee National Forest during the winter to stop erosion.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/25/cherokee-national-forest-closes-trails-stop-erosio/

Road to Nowhere nears end - Government to pony up $6M down payment to settle highway fight:
Associated Press
BRYSON CITY, N.C. - Congress has agreed to provide $6 million to help settle a decades-long fight in western North Carolina over the so-called Road to Nowhere, said North Carolina U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/22/road-to-nowhere-nears-end/

Smokies' natural history relocated to new home:
By Morgan Simmons (Contact)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
GATLINBURG - There were stacks of wooden trays on the table containing hundreds of "sawflies," a little-known group of wasp-like insects that feed on trees and shrubs.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to an estimated 70,000 different species of insects, not to mention 65 mammal species, and more species of plants than any other area in North America.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/26/smokies-natural-history-relocated/

Miscel. Parks News

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Reopens Comment Period On National Wildlife Refuge Draft Mosquito Control Policy:
Responding to numerous requests from the public for more time to comment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has opened an additional 60-day public comment period on a draft mosquito management policy. The document outlines consistent guidance for determining the conditions under which national wildlife refuges will control mosquitoes. Notification of the public comment period was published in the Federal Register December 19, 2007.
http://www.fws.gov/news/NewsReleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=F3B77222-FE72-DEFE-CB7DE42D08848916

Olympic National Park
Major Dam Removal Project Moves Forward:
Denver Service Center has selected a contractor to construct water facilities on the Elwha River – the next step in the long-planned removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyons from that river.
http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6101

Padre Island National Seashore
Recovery, at a turtle's pace:
Padre Island National Seashore has given an endangered sea turtle a fighting chance. And it only took 30 years to do it.
http://www.npca.org/magazine/2008/winter/recovery-at-a-turtles-pace.html

Yosemite National Park
El Portal Road Reconstruction Hours Announced in Yosemite National Park:
The El Portal Road is a park road that begins at the western boundary of Yosemite National Park. It begins at the eastern end of California State Highway 140 and continues 7.5 miles east to the Pohono Bridge
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parknews/eproadwork07.htm

Yosemite peak is one of the most famous day hikes in the nation:
By BOB DOWNING
Akron Beacon Journal
YOSEMITE VALLEY, Calif. --
The legend says the name of the native American woman was Tesaiyac.
She fled from an angry husband long ago through the High Sierra in what is now central California.Her footsteps became the Merced River in what is now Yosemite National Park.
http://www.kentucky.com/507/story/270303.html