National Park Service Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Opinion: A Magical Hike On Whidbey Island At Ebey’s Landing Whitewashes Native History

By NWPB News December 5, 2020

Ferry House at Ebey's Landing. CREDIT: Rspang, CC BY-SA 4.0 bit.ly/2L7w2LH, via Wikimedia Commons

"Despite 'Leave No Trace' ethics, there are so many white fingerprints on public lands that it’s like a setting for a CSI episode. Ebey’s Landing, a national historic reserve, is no exception," Claudia Lawrence writes in this opinion piece first published by Crosscut.Read More

Veterans And Gold Star Families Granted Lifetime Passes To National Parks

By NPR News November 9, 2020

Zion National Park near Springdale, Utah, is one of more than 2,000 federal recreation sites that will be free to visitors on Veterans Day. CREDIT: Rick Bowmer/AP

Former service members and families of those killed on active duty will have "free access to the iconic and treasured lands they fought to protect."Read More

U.S. Senate Passes Big Funding Boost To Conservation Fund, Help For National Parks Maintenance

By Courtney Flatt June 17, 2020

Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell helped push through the Great American Outdoors Act, speaking on the Senate floor with a picture of Mount Rainier on June 17, 2020. Screenshot / Courtesy of U.S. Senate

The Great American Outdoors Act would permanently allocate $900 million to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which finally lapsed almost two years ago.Read More

Yellowstone National Park Set To Reopen — With Caveats

By NPR News May 17, 2020

Yellowstone National Park entrance sign. CREDIT: Kirk Siegler/NPR

There is growing economic pressure to reopen national parks and ease travel restrictions even as many states are still seeing a rise in coronavirus cases. Read More

North Cascades Grizzly Proposal Brings Out Hundreds Opposed (And Some In Favor) In Okanogan

By Courtney Flatt October 8, 2019

Around 450 people filed into the AgriComplex building at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds Monday night. They wanted to voice their opinions on a draft plan to relocate grizzlies to the North Cascades.Read More

It’s Fat Bear Week In Alaska’s Katmai National Park — Time To Fill Out Your Bracket

By NPR News October 7, 2019

Bear No. 68 has packed on the pounds needed for a long hibernation. Courtesy of NPS Photos

Bears preparing for hibernation need to eat as much as they can for the winter. In Alaska, this habit has turned into an Ursine March Madness with bears going head-to-head to see who is the fattest.Read More

Sept. 28 Public Lands Day Means Free Admission To State And National Recreation Sites

By Meerah Powell September 27, 2019

Mount Rainier National Park could soon have cellphone access at Paradise and on nearby hikes. CREDIT: EILIS O'NEILL

The 26th annual National Public Lands Day is this Saturday, Sept. 28. That means free visits to recreational sites around the nation. Read More

When Everybody Wants A Piece Of ‘God’s Country’

By NPR News July 8, 2019

Located between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has become a big tourist draw since its designation in 1996. CREDIT: KIRK SIEGLER/NPR

About 300 miles south of Salt Lake City, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is at the heart of some of the most remote terrain in the lower 48. Famous for its red rock canyons, arches and fossil beds, the rugged land is punctuated by sites like Death Ridge, Carcass Canyon and Hell's Backbone Road.Read More

Chinese Tourism To U.S. Is Down After Years Of Booming Growth

By NPR News June 1, 2019

Grand Canyon officials don't keep track of visitors by country of residence, but Mandarin-language brochures are the most in demand there. The Arizona Office of Tourism estimates that in 2018, the number of Chinese visitors to the state dipped 3.7%, after nearly quadrupling from 2010 to 2017. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Fewer Chinese tourists have been visiting Hawaii, Arizona and other population destinations in recent years. The strong dollar has made travel more expensive, just as political tensions have grown.Read More

‘Unfounded’ Bullying Accusations Sidelined Head Of Grand Canyon For 5 Months

By NPR News March 5, 2019

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Christine Lehnertz, seen in 2017 with then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, was recently cleared of allegations of workplace harassment. Felicia Fonseca/AP

Park Superintendent Christine Lehnertz has been cleared of allegations of creating a hostile work environment in a report by the Inspector General of the Interior Department. Read More

As Grizzlies Come Back Across The West, Frustration Builds Over Continued Protections

By NPR News February 4, 2019

Trina Jo Bradley at the gate to one of her ranch's pastures. Like most ranchers here, she's been largely accommodating of the grizzlies as their population has rebounded and they've spread off of the neighboring mountains into the more populated plains. CREDIT: CLAIRE HARBAGE/NPR

Since being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, grizzly bear populations in northwest Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Area have more than tripled in size. That tolerance, scientists and wildlife officials say, is key to the grizzly bears' future as the effects of climate change harden, the West gets more crowded, and bears spreads into areas they Read More

Following Crater Lake, Mount Rainier National Park Shutters Entrances Due To Government Shutdown

By Tom Banse January 6, 2019

Deep snow surrounds the closed Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park in this webcam view Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. CREDIT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

When the government shutdown began on December 22, National Park Service higher-ups aspired to maintain access to Western parks—to the extent it was possible with a skeleton staff. But that quickly became untenable at Crater Lake National Park due to lack of snow plowing and sewer maintenance.Read More

Fallout Grows As Partial Government Shutdown Drags On

By NPR News December 29, 2018

A box of trash overflows near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., this week as some government services have been stopped during a partial government shutdown. CREDIT: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

There's no end in sight for the spending standoff that has forced the shutdown of about a quarter of the federal government. The longer the shutdown continues, the more services will be affected.Read More

Local Impacts From Partial Government Shutdown Shouldn’t Be Too Bad — For Now

By Tom Banse December 22, 2018

File photo. Mount Rainier National Park was closed for 16 days in October 2013 during a government shutdown. TOM BANSE / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

National parks would be affected. The contingency plan for the National Park Service says to stop plowing roads. Given the current wintry weather, that would close Crater Lake and Mount Rainier National Parks in short order. Fort Clatsop would be likely to close too.Read More

Changing Climate, Water Flows Impact Bald Eagles’ Feasts On The Skagit River

By Tom Banse December 20, 2018

A bald eagle looks for its next meal along the Skagit River. Eagles converge there in great numbers every winter. CREDIT: JASON RANSOM/ NPS 2017

From mid-December to February, hundreds upon hundreds of bald eagles flock to the Skagit River in northwest Washington to feast on spawning salmon. It's one of the biggest seasonal concentrations of eagles in the Pacific Northwest, but this eagle watching hot spot is being affected by changing cycles of nature.Read More

Alaska’s Katmai National Park Names ‘Fattest Bear’ (And It’s A Big One!)

By NPR News October 10, 2018

Bear 409 was named "Fattest Bear" at Katmai National Park and Preserve on Tuesday.

It's the bear body-positive competition you didn't know you needed. The results are in. And this year's winner in Katmai National Park and Reserve's annual "fattest bear" contest is 409 Beadnose.Read More

Study: Climate Change Hits National Parks Hard. North Cascades Is No Exception

By Courtney Flatt September 25, 2018

A view of the North Cascades view from Eldorado Peak. CREDIT: RICHARD DROKER/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR

Climate change is heating up national parks much faster than the rest of the U.S. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study that looked all 417 national parks, including those in the Northwest.Read More

50 Years On, North Cascades National Park Envisions The Next 50

By Tom Banse September 9, 2018

View from Sahale Peak near Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park. CREDIT: NPS

Despite its popularity, few know that it took skillful political compromise in the 1960s to establish North Cascades National Park and the adjacent Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas.Read More

Wildlife Groups Scramble For New Way To Block Grizzly Hunts

By NWPB News August 30, 2018

Wildlife advocates scrambled Thursday to find a new way to block grizzly bear hunts set to begin this weekend after a judge said he wouldn't immediately restore federal protections on the bears living in and around Yellowstone National Park.Read More

Amendment Defunding Grizzly Reintroduction In Washington Passes U.S. House

By Courtney Flatt July 23, 2018

This undated file photo provided by the National Park Service shows a grizzly bear walking along a ridge in Montana.National Park Service CREDIT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

An amendment to prevent the relocation of grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades has passed the U.S. House. The move is opposed by conservation groups, which say more grizzly bears are needed in the state.Read More

Can ‘Moneyball’ Fix How The West Manages Wildfire?

By Tony Schick July 16, 2018

The U.S. Forest Service and others have been saying for decades that we need to allow more wildfire on the landscape. But so far, we haven't practiced what we preach.Read More

Paradise Lost? Cell Service Coming To Mount Rainier, Despite Pleas To Protect Solitude

By Courtney Flatt May 23, 2018

There won’t be any cell towers — but there could soon be cell signals at the most popular place at Mount Rainier. The National Park Service has decided limited range cell service can be installed at Paradise.Read More

National Park Service To ‘Modestly’ Raise Entrance Fees In Plan To Cut Repair Backlog

By NPR News April 13, 2018

The National Park Service will increase entrance fees at 117 national parks by at least $5. The increases are far smaller than had previously been proposed by the Trump administration.Read More

Visitors And Spending In National Forests In Washington And Oregon Flat Over 20 Years

By Emily Schwing April 2, 2018

A report out last month says visitors spent nearly $740 million in communities near U.S. Forest Service lands in Washington and Oregon. The number of visitors and dollars coming into the region hasn’t changed much in nearly two decades.Read More

How Will A Government Shutdown Affect Public Lands?

By Tom Banse January 19, 2018

Uncertainty reigns about what federal public lands will be open if the congressional budget standoff leads to a partial government shutdown. Closed national parks and forest campgrounds were among the most visible effects the last time the federal government partially shut down in October 2013.Read More