National Park News | Major National Park Rescue, Rocky Mountain Increasing Camping Fees, Grizzly Bears Return to Cascades

The National Park Service and U.

S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced a decision to actively restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington, where the animals once roamed. Grizzly bears occupied the North Cascades region for thousands of years as a key part of the ecosystem, distributing native plant seeds and keeping other wildlife populations in balance. Populations declined primarily due to direct killing by humans. The last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the U.S.

portion of the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996.

. The agencies have decided to translocate grizzly bears from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia. The decision is the culmination of an environmental impact statement process that began back in 2022. They'll move three to seven grizzlies per year for a period of five to ten years to establish an initial population of 25 bears. The U.S.

portion of the North Cascades ecosystem is roughly 9,800 square miles in size, larger than the state of New Jersey, and contains some of the most intact wildlands in the contiguous U.

S. Roughly 85 percent of the mountainous region is under federal management. Under the decision, grizzly bears in the North Cascades will be designated as a non-essential experimental population under the Endangered Species Act. That designation will provide authorities with additional tools for management that would not otherwise be available under the Endangered Species Act regulations. That's primarily to address concerns about human safety, property, and livestock.

There's no set timeline for when the grizzly bears will begin to be moved. The National Park Service will publish updates on the park website and notify partners and the public of implementation plans as they develop. On Friday, May 10th, National Park Service personnel were notified of a body in the Colorado River, near River Mile 6 in the Grand Canyon. National Park. Park rangers responded and recovered the body, which is possibly that of missing person Thomas L.

Robeson, 58, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who attempted travel down the Colorado River with his dog on a homemade wooden raft comprised of three etched wooden boards tied together with ropes. An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner. On the morning of April 18th, six adult skiers were reported stranded in a snow cave on the Harding Icefield within Kenai Fjords National Park. The group was undertaking a multi-day traverse of the Harding Icefield from Exit Glacier to Bradley Lake. when they encountered inclement weather conditions and constructed a snow cave for shelter.

National Park Service, law enforcement rangers, and Alaska Wildlife Troopers coordinated several rescue attempts throughout the day and into the evening. Poor visibility and high winds prevented all attempts to reach the stranded party. On the morning of April 19th, an Alaska Air National Guard Pavehawk helicopter with para-rescue men on board made another attempt to reach the group, but were again hampered by high winds. By late morning, weather conditions improved to the point where the Pavehawk could land and offload the rescuers in the vicinity of the group's location. After linking up with the six skiers, they safely led them back to the helicopter, which airlifted them to an area hospital for evaluation.

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Emergency repairs were done on several utilities and 1,323 miles of roads inside the park. On August 20, 2023, the remnants of Hurricane Hillary brought 2.2 inches of rain, which is more rain in a day than the park normally receives in a year. All roads in the park were damaged. In some places, roads disappeared for miles. Water lines, sewer lines, and sewage lagoons had to be repaired.

Repairs needed added up quickly in the 34-million-acre park about the size of Connecticut. There is more work to do, but the park is shifting out of emergency response mode. Permanent repairs to some of the paved roads will begin later this year. Erosion control features will be added to sections of paved roads to make them more resilient to future flash floods. One thing that we've reported on a few times recently at Death Valley is people driving off-road and getting stuck, causing damage to the landscape.

Well, apparently, it's happened again. The National Park Service is seeking information about recent damage to a historic salt tram tower in Saline Valley. It appears the 113-year-old tower was pulled over while a person used a winch to extract their vehicle out of deep mud. The damage happened sometime between April 1 and April 24.. I have hiked along sections of this tramway and am amazed by the tenacity it took to build," said Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

I hope the person responsible for this damage will contact us so we can discuss restitution. The Saline Valley Salt Company built the 13-mile aerial tram to transport salt from Saline Valley to Owens Valley in 1911. The tramway climbed over 7,000 vertical feet at steep vertical grades up to 40 degrees. Saline Valley Salt Tram is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Only the first four towers are within Death Valley National Park.

Most of the tramway crosses lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Tram Tower 1 is the tower closest to Saline Valley. Lakebed. Nearby tracks showed that a vehicle drove a short distance off the legal roadway and got stuck in the mud. Park rangers believe that someone used the nearby tower as an anchor to pull their vehicle out of the mud.

The tower toppled over, pulling its concrete footings out of the ground. Rocky Mountain National Park is proposing a change to its current camping fees at four campgrounds beginning next year. The park is proposing a $10 increase to overnight fees at four reservation campgrounds, including Moraine Park, Glacier Basin, Aspen Glen, and Timber Creek Campgrounds, bumping the nightly cost to $45 in the summer. There is also a proposed additional increase of $10 for the new electrical sites that are being constructed at the Moraine Park Campground. Those 49 electrical sites will be $55 a night.

There would be no fee changes to winter rates, to group sites, or to the Longs Peak Campground, which is first come, first served. The Park Service says the proposed campground fee increases are based on comparable fees for similar services in nearby campgrounds, probably looking a lot at Colorado State Parks, which are fairly expensive, and are necessary for the park to improve and maintain high quality visitor services. The park is accepting public comments on the proposed fee increases at a link I'll provide in the description. The National Park Service has evaluated the potential environmental effects related to the demolition of D.C.'s defunct Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and has determined that the stadium can be demolished.

The demolished RFK Stadium is located on National Park Service land, however, the District of Columbia owns it. The stadium, which opened in 1961,, is in a state of disrepair and has not been used since 2019.. Hazardous materials, stadium seats, furniture, fixtures, equipment, trash, and debris have all already been removed. Over its years, RFK Stadium was home to NFL games, two major league baseball teams, five professional soccer teams, and two college football teams. RFK was one of the first major stadiums designed to host baseball and football.

D.

C. has already been revitalizing the campus with local outdoor recreation and sports opportunities for D.C. residents. In place of RFK Stadium, a planned memorial is in the works for the stadium's namesake. Finally, Flight 93 National Memorial has started a 10-year project to revitalize the trees within the 40 memorial groves.

The National Park Service and the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial are initiating the first phase of a public-private campaign to restore the living tribute to the Flight 93 crew members and passengers. The 40 memorial groves and Treeline Trail's 2,000 deciduous trees define the open field where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001.. This 30-acre landscape feature was planted to honor each of the 40 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93.. The park's non-profit partner, Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial, is looking for businesses, organizations, and individuals to contribute toward the project. That's it for this month's National Park News Roundup.

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