Social National Parks facing massive crisis

[djacobox372]

I remember when National parks were free (or close to free) and first-come first serve.

Now you have to buy about a half-dozen expensive passes--usually requiring an hour of research to make sure you have the right pass for the right place, AND you often have make reservations.

And they wonder why only privileged people are visiting???

If the parks were ran the same way they were today when I was a kid, my busy lower-middle class parents wouldn't have ever bothered to take us.

 

[mommas homeboy]

i'm sure that's an issue that bothers you.

Surely it doesn't bother him as much as it bothers you.

 

[HomeCheese]

I believe the schools should incorporate more natural science into the curriculum. Crazy as this sounds, I think every kid would benefit from doing activities like bird watching. I think it is very important to develop an appreciation for the natural world.

 

[idrankyourbeer]

Surely it doesn't bother him as much as it bothers you.

i'm just so hot and bothered by these so-called racist parks or whatever that i forgot about this thread even existing until you went out of your way to respond to some shit from almost a year ago.

good work skeeter.

 

[Deorum]

 

[SummerStriker]

the article doesn't cite any specific law or policy. Only real citation is that 23% of nationl park visitors at POC, where they are 42% of the population. However, I wonder how much that is just population distrubution vs urban and non-urban areas and proximity to a national park.

And a lot of people just drive to the national park because it is kinda hard to take your camping equipment to the airport. Way more white people get PTO and own a car, which makes hiking / camping a lot more possible.

 

[Deorum]

And a lot of people just drive to the national park because it is kinda hard to take your camping equipment to the airport. Way more white people get PTO and own a car, which makes hiking / camping a lot more possible.

You Right.

I've been to nearly 20 of them now, in part because the two places I've spent my life have been within fun road trip distances.

Sadly, no, I've not been to one single national park. I have many on my list. Logistics and timing have been the issue.

 

[Long Dark Blues]

Your youngest is around same age as my oldest. You should take him with you, bro. Or is it not his sort of thing? Boys today aren't like 80s babies and 90s kids like us. The amount of time spent outdoors and being physically active has been drastically reduced on the whole.

I also understand that the circumstances and environment is drastically different for mine though, they've grown up in the city all their lives and the majority of my childhood was rural. I've had to deliberately introduce and instill things that just came as an inherent and natural part of my own upbringing.

I think it kind of helps that I distinctly remember being their age like it was yesterday, which makes me a really cool Motherfucker. But then there are times he has to realize that I'm not his friend, like I'm your father and going to hold you accountable for shit. Get over it.



Not since Wu-Tang in '06 for me, lol.

My youngest is outdoorsy like me. He's into the primitive camping and being on the river and all that, but he blew out his ACL in rugby (at 14 ) and is currently recovering from that. So he won't be going with me and my buddies in September.

I'm gonna need someone to take care of the house while I'm cruisin' around the greatest country in the world in 4 years. But, yeah, he said he does want to see the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

edit: wrong thread

 

[Deorum]

My youngest is outdoorsy like me. He's into the primitive camping and being on the river and all that, but he blew out his ACL in rugby (at 14 ) and is currently recovering from that. So he won't be going with me and my buddies in September.

I'm gonna need someone to take care of the house while I'm cruisin' around the greatest country in the world in 4 years. But, yeah, he said he does want to see the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

Damn, that's way too young to be breaking down like his old man (I joke! ). But low blow aside that's actually awful to read, poor guy.

And shit, of course he does. Utah actually has five separate national parks (Arches, Bryce, Canyonland, Capital Reef, Zion) with landscapes and scenery that is very similar to the Grand Canyon. But there is an emphasis to be made on GRAND here, as it's bigger than all five of them combined and by a lot. As spectacular as that is, the canyon itself - viewing it from different angles and perspectives - is the attraction.

On the other hand, Yellowstone is a supervolcano with all sorts of varied attractions around, within, and on top of the park. Over half of the entire planet's geothermal features are concentrated there, including the world's tallest active geyser (Steamboat), world's most famous + predictable geyser (Old Faithful) and the world's third largest hot spring (Grand Prismatic). Lamar Valley has herds of bison, bald eagles, grizzly bears, and gray wolves. Shit, Yellowstone NP even has its own 'grand canyon' with a gorgeous waterfall. The OG.

And then Grand Teton is only 30 miles away.





Fuck.

 

[Deorum]

Also @Uncle Cool Dude: If you were planning on visiting NoDak's national park, don't bother tbh. It is named after Teddy Roosevelt because North Dakota was his favorite state in the union (<3), but it's too far out of the way for what it is. I mean, I like it but it's meager relative to the prestige of the crown jewel NPs. You're much better off rolling through SoDak.

In fact, you could stop at Brandon Steakhouse and catch a race at legendary Husets speedway with 900+ hp sprint cars just outside of Sioux Falls before blasting across the I-90 and hitting up the Badlands national park, Black Hills national forest, the iconic Mount Rushmore monument, the towns of Sturgis (@irish_thug), Deadwood and Spearfish...all directly on the way to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in Wyoming.



I did that exact thing and took that exact trip with a bunch of my favorite family members as a little boy and Monumental doesn't even begin to describe that shit: it was 0% selfie opps and social media posts, 100% amazing experiences and cherished memories. Ah yes, it was the 1990s.

 

[Deorum]

Lol, you're crazy.

How the fuck anybody even think like that, lol. Man, life is way too short and too fucking great. The goal should be to wittle down the wasted time to not even a second.

 

[Mr Holmes]

How the fuck anybody even think like that, lol. Man, life is way too short and too fucking great. The goal should be to wittle down the wasted time to not even a second.

Some of these guys are out there.

 

[Ornife]

Lol, you're crazy.

You ever wonder if these guys are real? Do people who hold cardboard signs and scream at cars all day own computers?

 

[Poatan Power]

The redwoods are so fucking cool. When you get to about the Sacramento line in California, from coast to Tahoe, everything north of that is gorgeous and awe inspiring. Standing next to a tree that big in that climate is just amazing.

 

[Mr Holmes]

Big Bend, Glacier, and Shenandoah are probably my top National Parks. Although Shenandoah I kinda blend together with George Washington/Jefferson National Forest, so probably collectively has the best hikes.

You ever been to Devil's Tower? I think that has been my favorite hike so far.

 

[Deorum]

The redwoods are so fucking cool. When you get to about the Sacramento line in California, from coast to Tahoe, everything north of that is gorgeous and awe inspiring. Standing next to a tree that big in that climate is just amazing.

They're Alive. I honestly can't decide which is more majestic between the giant sequioas and coastal redwoods. A lot of people speak of them in a synonymous and interchangeable way. They are part of the same family but have notable differences. To be the best, biggest, tallest, or most - anything on an entire continent or within a hemisphere is so incredibly ridiculous, nevermind across the entire world.

 

[Deorum]

I am actually surprised though by the lack of parks in the mid-Atlantic, north east corridor. I mean they have tons of large state parks.

If it were up to me, the total number would be significantly slashed. That isn't to say a lot of areas shouldn't be protected and preserved regardless, besides the fact that aesthetics and beauty are highly subjective (for the most part). I just feel like a National Park ought to have some sort of objectively supreme or unique feature(s) relative to country, continent, and/or planet. Yes, that is an almost impossible standard to meet, but that's kind of the point. And a large handful of them manage to pull off exactly that.

 

[SoSo]

NoDak Genome.





You're pure class. And yeah, it's awe-inspiring.



Have you been to any of these, @Uncle Cool Dude? You're quite a ways off from the crown jewels. Whatever the Old West doesn't possess in early American history, it makes up some ground on in terms of geological history and natural beauty. I've been to nearly 20 of them now, in part because the two places I've spent my life have been within fun road trip distances.

01. Yellowstone (Wyoming)
02. Death Valley (California)
03. Grand Canyon (Arizona)
04. Redwood (California)
05. Sequoia (California)
06. Grand Teton (Wyoming)
07. Glacier (Montana)
08. Badlands (SoDak)
09. Wind Cave (SoDak)
10. Teddy Roosevelt (NoDak)

To-Do List:

* Yosemite (California)
* Smoky Mountains (Tennessee)
* Everglades (Florida)

There is nothing that can dethrone the OG, but Death Valley was honestly the most fun for me. I live in the hottest city in the country that literally just had the hottest month ever recorded for any US city (of any size) this July, so the heat isn't really a novelty thing for me. But DVNP is on some other shit. 50+C (122F and up) is on some other shit. It is as incredible and legendary as it is excruciating and infamous. We came across some tourist bloke from Wales over there, and my son said it looked like the dude's soul was leaving his body. No doubt he was seeing desert cryptids and paranormal spirits once he got back to his lodgings that night.





There's all sorts of aptly named locations throughout the park: Furnace Creek, Badwater Basin, Stovepipe Wells, Dante's View, Devil's Golf Course (not an actual golf course). It was long, long overdue but finally established as a full fledged natty park on Halloween 1994. It's also the fictional hometown of The Undertaker right, that's cool. The Valley sits at the lowest point of elevation in North America at nearly 300 feet below sea level, and it is The Hottest Place on Earth. It shits on the Saharan and Middle East.

* 54.4° C (130.0°F), 9 July 2021, Death Valley (USA)

* 54.3° C (129.9°F), 16 August 2020, Death Valley (USA)

* 54.1° C (129.4°F), 10 July 2021, Death Valley (USA)

* 54.0° C (129.2°F), 30 June 2013, Death Valley (USA)

* 54.0° C (129.2°F), 21 July 2016, Mitribah (Kuwait)

* 53.9° C (129.0°F), 17 July 1998, Death Valley (USA)

* 53.9° C (129.0°F), 19 July 2005, Death Valley (USA)

* 53.9° C (129.0°F), 6 July 2007, Death Valley (USA)

* 53.9° C (129.0°F), 22 July 2016, Basra (Iraq)

* 53.9° C (129.0°F), 16 July 2023, Death Valley (USA)

USA! USA! USA!

Just an FYI: Idaho doesn't have any national parks except for Yellowstone. But we have plenty of spectacular national monuments and reserves. As well as fantastic blm/dept of lands and state forests. 4.5 million acres of wilderness with one area (Frank Church) making up 2.3 million contiguous arces of wilderness area. Just a quick shout out for my state. It's definitely worth a look in addition to the other places mentioned.

 

[Poatan Power]

They're Alive. I honestly can't decide which is more majestic between the giant sequioas and coastal redwoods. A lot of people speak of them in a synonymous and interchangeable way. They are part of the same family but have notable differences. To be the best, biggest, tallest, or most - anything on an entire continent or within a hemisphere is so incredibly ridiculous, nevermind across the entire world.

I was fortunate enough to live near Murphy's, CA growing up so Big Trees wasn't far away. Literally a 20 minute drive and you're in a nirvana.

had some friends have their wedding ceremony on that tree haha

https://anythingispossibletravel.com/2012/09/25/calaveras-big-trees/