There was literally TONS of news over the last couple of days which I am glad to share with everyone. Some of the threads have some similar information (such as the wolves threads in Yellowstone NP thread). Having said that, I felt they were different enough to publish together.
James
Acadia NP:
Commission supports stimulus help
Members of Acadia National Park Advisory Commission approved a resolution urging Congress to fund projects in Acadia as part of its stimulus package. The resolution will be sent to members of Maine’s Congressional delegation.
http://mdislander.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8757&Itemid=36
Snowmobile fair set
Mount Desert Island Hospital Emergency Department and the Acadia National park rangers and emergency services will join to offer the Ride Right Snowmobile safety program at the park headquarters on Eagle Lake Road on Saturday, Feb. 21, starting at 8:30 a.m. The program is open to the public.
http://mdislander.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8753&Itemid=36
Arches NP:
Salazar Cancels Contested Utah Drilling Leases
The Interior Department yesterday announced that it would cancel leases issued under the Bush administration that would have allowed oil and gas drilling on more than 100,000 acres of Utah wild lands, much of it surrounding iconic treasures like Arches National Park.
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/17614
Lawsuit on federal gas and oil leases is left in limbo
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to cancel 77 disputed federal oil and gas leases in Utah has left a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Department in a holding pattern.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11639480
Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The National Park Service says the public can view its 2008 reports on protected species found within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/1395881.html
Denali NP:
Rangers to lead weekend snowshoe hikes in Denali Park
If you’re looking for a change of pace and an excuse to get out of town, you might consider heading to Denali Park to tromp around on a pair of snowshoes for the day or weekend.
http://newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/05/rangers-lead-weekend-snowshoe-hikes-denali-park/
Everglades NP:
U.S. Sugar Land Vital for Everglades
Florida is positioned to take a giant leap forward in our effort to protect the Everglades. On the table is a deal that would allow the state to purchase more than 182,000 acres of property in the Everglades Agricultural Area that is owned by the United States Sugar Corp..
http://www.theledger.com/article/2009020..._for_Everglades
To avoid 'giant python in Everglades,' lawmaker working to ban import, trade
It reads like the plot to a budget horror flick: Pythons fill up the Everglades and spread across the southern third of the United States.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/local_news/epaper/2009/02/04/a1b_pythons_0205.html
Grand Teton NP:
Forest: Don’t poach powder
Bridger-Teton National Forest officials are asking Jackson Hole residents to keep an eye out for skiers in closed areas after a series of violations were reported this week.
http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=4222
Great Smoky NP:
smokies seeks volunteers for non-native plant control project
Great Smoky Mountains National Park managers are recruiting volunteers to help carry out a one-day assault on two very invasive non-native plants to be conducted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat., Feb. 21, at the Park’s Big Creek Campground and Picnic Area.
http://seymourherald.com/news/2009/feb/05/smokies-seeks-volunteers-for-n/
Park could benefit from stimulus package
In 1933, as the nation was suffering a staggering amount of unemployment, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act. The legislation created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), supplying millions of unemployed Americans with jobs.
http://www.thesmokymountaintimes.com/articles/2009/02/05/news/news03.txt
What’s bone-chilling cold? 22 degrees below zero
Think it’s been frigid in Knoxville with lows close to single digits? That’s balmy compared to the conditions atop Mount Leconte.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/04/whats-bone-chilling-cold-22-degrees-below-zero/
Misc. Parks News:
Bill would put federal tax on state mine operations
The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 (H.R. 699) would change the 1872 mining law by imposing a federal royalty on the production of hardrock minerals on federal lands similar to the royalties paid by coal, oil and gas industries.
http://www.cibolabeacon.com/articles/2009/02/05/news/doc498b74014eb61102794040.txt
Rocky Mountain NP:
Rocky Mountain National Park begins culling elk herd with marksmen
Members of the media were invited to Rocky Mountain National Park’s east side on Wednesday to witness an activity unprecedented inside the Park’s borders: the shooting of a wild animal.
http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20...with%20marksmen
Elk culling is now under way in Colorado's largest national park.
The practice, used as a conservation tool to reduce an animal's population, is the result of an 11-year process which included, community meetings, research and planning.
"Culling is an activity we don't take lightly," said Ben Bobowski with the National Park Service (NPS).
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=109212&catid=339
Saguaro NP:
Saguaro National Park expanding trails
Saguaro National Park is getting ready to expand its trail network by 20 percent.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/278956
Yellowstone NP:
The wolf-dog connection
Scientists discover genetic link between black wolves, first domesticated dogs
The black wolf trotting across Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley can trace its heritage back to the first domesticated dogs that crossed with humans from Asia 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/02/06/news/wyoming/18-hungrylike.txt
Dog gene heeds call of the wild
Wolves may inherit their coat color from their domesticated cousins
Dogs flash back to their wild ancestry when they howl inexplicably at the full moon or pace a circle before lying down. These behaviors may be vestiges of the dogs’ early days as wolves. But new research shows that some wild wolves probably inherited a trait from their domesticated cousins. Black wolves received a gene for coat color from domesticated dogs through interspecies breeding, suggests research in the Feb. 6 Science.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40621/title/Dog_gene_heeds_the_call_of_the_wild
Biologists solve mystery of black wolves
Why do nearly half of North American wolves have black coats while European wolves are overwhelmingly gray or white? The surprising answer, according to teams of biologists and molecular geneticists from Stanford University, UCLA, Sweden, Canada and Italy, is that the black coats are the result of historical matings between black dogs and wild gray wolves.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/uoc--bsm020509.php
Operation: Dark Wolf
Many millennia ago, man created dog. As the story goes, gray wolves in East Asia took to the comforts of human camp life somewhere between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago. People bred their new canine companions for docility and other favored traits. Dogs then accompanied humans crossing the Bering Strait into the Americas 12,000–14,000 years ago.
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-02/operation-dark-wolf?page=
New bison plan rejected
A plan to turn bison management over to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was shot down Thursday.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/02/05/news/state/18-bison.txt
