tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post6748405636703630348..comments2024-03-29T05:14:33.223-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: How to make national parks more popularUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-5392597008068208582009-08-21T08:54:35.180-07:002009-08-21T08:54:35.180-07:00You really can't compare the USA to Austria or...You really can't compare the USA to Austria or Switzerland or ANY other European country aside from Russia. Why? Because the USA is so geographically huge compared to the smallish nations located in Europe (again, aside from Russia).<br /><br />The Swiss and Austrians can afford to pay more attention to their parks and such because there are so many people concentrated in a small area that they are frequently visited - literally every square inch of many smallish European nations has been mapped and trod over many times. However, the USA is just so vast and spread out that there is no way we could give so much attention to a particular park or area.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-60946225609551998012009-08-17T07:33:18.490-07:002009-08-17T07:33:18.490-07:00Im just back from Tuolumne this week, from Wash D....Im just back from Tuolumne this week, from Wash D.C. It was gorgeous, somewhat remote, and crowded. I could barely get cellphone service. I forgot who was President, paid no attention to health care, and was woefully under educated on the upcoming tropical storms in Florida. The defintion of Wilderness is a place humans dont visit often. That doesnt need changing at all. I hope we keep a few areas wild in the U.S. About a half mile up the John Muir trail, from the Meadows a woman had fallen over from exhaustion. She was over weight, improperly dressed, and carrying little water. I applaud her for trying, I scold her for not taking hiking at 10,000 feet seriously. Best not let the obese graze to far from their living rooms and Costcos. We dont need to change the parks to accomodate them. Just the opposite.<br /><br />@ 20$ for a week pass, though, I wouldnt mind paying a bit more. Bargain entertainment in todays world.MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09565230383575919072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-55612246073195024562009-08-16T04:00:36.726-07:002009-08-16T04:00:36.726-07:00--You coasters seem to have no idea what it's ...--You coasters seem to have no idea what it's like to live in a small town, or out in the countryside.<br /><br />I wonder if your naivete - the fact that you are clueless as to how the other half lives - will help or hinder the secession movement?--<br /><br />I have lived in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana and Colorado. I never once felt overwhelmed by nature. Yesterday, I traveled to Boynton Beach, and I felt overwhelmed by humanity.zylonetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73879146568385997562009-08-15T21:25:04.798-07:002009-08-15T21:25:04.798-07:00You really must read this web page:
http://www.ad...You really must read this web page:<br /><br />http://www.adversity.net/fed_stats/OPM2007/001_blacksFY2006.htm<br /><br />It lists the massive overrepresentation by blacks in virtually every federal department EXCEPT Interior (i.e. national parks). Stats for each one. Truly breathtaking! I had not realized just how much white folks were squeezed out of Federal employment.<br /><br />Search for "interior" on the webpage.Big Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-6033736950091972432009-08-15T18:50:43.115-07:002009-08-15T18:50:43.115-07:00My family just returned from a day of hiking at th...My family just returned from a day of hiking at the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We had planned this vacation for months and were totally surprised by the news that this was a "Free Weekend". We found out literally when we arrived at the park entrance.<br /><br />Obviously the "free weekend" deal didn't play any role in our decision of what to do and where to go for this vacation. It might have made the park a little more crowded, I don't really know. If so, it would have only made our day a little more crowded and a little less enjoyable. <br /><br />Steve is right about the entrance fees being cheap. The entrance fees to national parks are already inconsequential compared to the other costs of a family vacation.spacehabitatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01540280499274649411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58428515937987115142009-08-15T14:31:39.551-07:002009-08-15T14:31:39.551-07:00zylonet: The parks are a last source of refuge for...<b>zylonet:</b> <i>The parks are a last source of refuge for Americans who yearn to be free and to dream. Our parks are among the remnants of a once great nation... <br /><br />I have a feeling that in the coming decades sailing will become exceptionally popular among WASPS. Backcountry trekking offers a connection to nature, and just as importantly - it offers a connection to our forefathers. I assume that our parks will become evermore populated and that the wrong people will start filling the parking lots in droves. When this happens, there will be only one last escape: the sea.</i> <br /><br />Man, it is so weird to listen to you left- & right-coasters wax rhapsodic about goverment-owned parks.<br /><br />Out here in flyover country, we are surrounded by nature - deluged by it, really - if we don't mow the lawn aggressively, then Mother Gaia will quickly reclaim it as a jungle.<br /><br />You coasters seem to have no idea what it's like to live in a small town, or out in the countryside.<br /><br />I wonder if your naivete - the fact that you are clueless as to how the other half lives - will help or hinder the secession movement?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-5986057332694548962009-08-15T08:04:49.521-07:002009-08-15T08:04:49.521-07:00A couple of years some left-wing politicians in th...A couple of years some left-wing politicians in the Netherlands also thought that public parks should be made more attractive to ethnic minorities. For some reason they though that might be accomplished by putting more trees with edible fruits in the parks, which would hence be renamed to (I'm not making this up - http://users.telenet.be/steve.herman/Actueel/20040417.htm) "smulbossen", meaning something like "gluttony forests". I seem to remember a pilot project failed to attract the desired number of migrant visitors and it was quickly forgotten.Dutch readernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-21173355426151106682009-08-15T07:03:39.465-07:002009-08-15T07:03:39.465-07:00MAYBE white attraction to backpacking has to do wi...MAYBE white attraction to backpacking has to do with future time orientation, or something analogous?<br /><br />Think about apocalyptic fears - isn't that kind of a white thing? The idea that all this stuff is nice, but requires ACTIVE MAINTENANCE?<br /><br />Sort of the opposite of the cargo cult mentality. Maybe stuff like backpacking is the SWPL nod to survivalism.<br /><br />In any event, my contribution to this discussion is that the federal government should not be sitting on half the land in America. The fedgov should pick out the nice spots for national parks and put the rest up for sale. This ain't the Soviet Union.<br /><br />~SvigorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-32078935136560956972009-08-15T01:28:27.799-07:002009-08-15T01:28:27.799-07:00Agnostic's comments are based on per capita pa...Agnostic's comments are based on per capita park use, but there are a lot more capitas now than there were in the l970s.SFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-15256168831870952312009-08-14T23:17:39.792-07:002009-08-14T23:17:39.792-07:00"Speaking of camping, it's my impression ..."Speaking of camping, it's my impression that trailer camping is prole while tent camping is mostly SWPL."<br /><br />well i'd say you're on to something. for instance i've dated mexican women, and when the topic of parks and camping comes up, they were usually enthusiastic. until we worked out that "camping" meant, for them, driving to a parking lot in a trailer and playing cards and eating hot dogs and sleeping in a bed, while "camping" meant, for me, going into the woods with a backpack and a tent.jodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82064388051065435042009-08-14T21:35:24.371-07:002009-08-14T21:35:24.371-07:00Speaking of camping, it's my impression that t...Speaking of camping, it's my impression that trailer camping is prole while tent camping is mostly SWPL.<br /><br />PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28964552009876694822009-08-14T20:22:21.335-07:002009-08-14T20:22:21.335-07:00--How would you like to do the work in order to ge...--How would you like to do the work in order to get in climbing shape, only to get to the summit where instead of finding EARNED solitude you find a bunch of seniors and VIBRANT CHILDREN on a school trip? The wilderness is not wilderness if you often have strangers in your field of view.--<br /><br />Well said. The parks are a last source of refuge for Americans who yearn to be free and to dream. Our parks are among the remnants of a once great nation. <br /><br /><br />--don't know about the rest of the country, but I can tell you that camping in the national parks is more popular than ever in the Pacific Northwest. Backwoods hiking and mountain climbing is as popular as ever as well. If anything, I think camping is more popular this year because of the recession. It is cheap.-- <br /><br />Maybe you are seeing the increase in backpackers because some people are seeking refuge from their minority-obsessed communities? There is very little left for good Americans. Nature is a last escape. <br /><br />I myself am planning to take to the seas. The 3-year goal: http://www.shipman.dk/yacht-range/63-media-gallery.asp<br /><br />I have a feeling that in the coming decades sailing will become exceptionally popular among WASPS. Backcountry trekking offers a connection to nature, and just as importantly - it offers a connection to our forefathers. I assume that our parks will become evermore populated and that the wrong people will start filling the parking lots in droves. When this happens, there will be only one last escape: the sea.zylonetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28149112945658458102009-08-14T19:28:52.267-07:002009-08-14T19:28:52.267-07:00The best reform would be to privatize the parks. S...<i>The best reform would be to privatize the parks. Sell them to Disney or Knotts Berry Farm and refund the proceeds to taxpayers</i><br /><br />You have no soul.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12087423581386139682009-08-14T18:46:39.349-07:002009-08-14T18:46:39.349-07:00OT:
AP is reporting that Bob Dylan was recently a...OT:<br /><br />AP is <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090815/ap_on_en_mu/us_people_bob_dylan" rel="nofollow">reporting</a> that Bob Dylan was recently approached by police officers asking him for an ID, while he walked around alone in some town in NJ where he was scheduled to perform later. <br /><br />""What is your name, sir?" the officer asked.<br /><br />"Bob Dylan," Dylan said.<br /><br />"OK, what are you doing here?" the officer asked.<br /><br />"I'm on tour," the singer replied.<br /><br />A second officer, also in his 20s, responded to assist the first officer. He, too, apparently was unfamiliar with Dylan, Woolley said.<br /><br />The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' in the Wind" said that he didn't have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show.<br /><br />The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.<br /><br />The officers thanked him for his cooperation.<br /><br />"He couldn't have been any nicer to them," Woolley added."<br /><br />I've never thought of Bob Dylan as "nice", but apparently he's nicer (or at least less hot-headed) than Skip Gates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-57921672575364252422009-08-14T17:37:05.186-07:002009-08-14T17:37:05.186-07:00The best reform would be to privatize the parks. S...The best reform would be to privatize the parks. Sell them to Disney or Knotts Berry Farm and refund the proceeds to taxpayers.<br /><br />Or turn the parks into a new, for-profit company run by Peter Ueberroth. In 1984 he turned the L.A. Olympics into the first Olympics not to lose money. He could do the same with the socialist parks.John Seilerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03795977089953532965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-84599835714357851622009-08-14T17:34:34.186-07:002009-08-14T17:34:34.186-07:00I love the great outdoors, and I am too disabled t...I love the great outdoors, and I am too disabled to get out there much. That's just tough for me. Keep it wild and free!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77181626795523321182009-08-14T16:57:10.017-07:002009-08-14T16:57:10.017-07:00The National Park service took over all the resort...The National Park service took over all the resorts that used to exist in our park. Those that did not burn down. Otherwise there would be hundreds of more beds in our park. They also have taken over all the homes in the park (there were hundreds of vacation homes built before the park expanded). Those are used for the Park employees now or simply torn down. <br /><br />I used to work for them and the Park Service sucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82185816010037693282009-08-14T16:43:52.652-07:002009-08-14T16:43:52.652-07:00Wrong, wrong, wrong, Steve. We need to preserve t...Wrong, wrong, wrong, Steve. We need to preserve these places as intact as possible until another generation comes along that can enjoy them. Being fat and lazy ourselves does not mean all future generations will be like us.Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08151775953873289807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36220218239839195412009-08-14T16:26:49.519-07:002009-08-14T16:26:49.519-07:00I like the fact that there are not many people oth...I like the fact that there are not many people other at the National Parks. I do not want to see, hear or interact with the average American while backpacking. If I see anyone else, I want it to be other nature types such as myself. This is the same idea behind living in neighborhoods with similar demographics.Gusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-56309160102464972262009-08-14T15:36:48.887-07:002009-08-14T15:36:48.887-07:00Park attendance is indeed way down, since at least...Park attendance is indeed way down, since at least the 1980s. During this time, recreational visits are down, while non-recreational visits are up. But readers of my blog already knew that:<br /><br /><a href="http://akinokure.blogspot.com/2009/05/decline-of-outdoor-fun-and-graying-of.html" rel="nofollow">Decline of parks</a>agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-65076904108929143522009-08-14T15:04:49.920-07:002009-08-14T15:04:49.920-07:00As a 65 year old backpacker, I'm going to be o...As a 65 year old backpacker, I'm going to be on the other side of this argument. Maybe when I'm 75. . . However, the park service could let up a little on its rules for horse packing in some areas, making it easier for the less fit. And one of my pet peeves is that the Yosemite Sup. banned the four pound inflatable boats from backcountry lakes. Incidentally, it was Nixon who declared vast portions of the national parks to also be wilderness. He thought he could get some enviro points without having to take on the tnen powerful timber industry. I'm not sure whether or not it would take an act of congress to change this. Last time I was in Yosemite valley, it didn't seem any more diverse than the back country.SFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-72691517257778796782009-08-14T14:42:46.941-07:002009-08-14T14:42:46.941-07:00I don't know about the rest of the country, bu...I don't know about the rest of the country, but I can tell you that camping in the national parks is more popular than ever in the Pacific Northwest. Backwoods hiking and mountain climbing is as popular as ever as well. If anything, I think camping is more popular this year because of the recession. It is cheap. Surfing off the Oregon coast has become very popular in the last 2 years, again because it is cheap and lots of fun. Also, age is no excuse because I know guys in their 60's who are into both surfing and back country hiking. <br /><br />It may be that Pacific Northwest and Mountain states people are more outdoorsy than people in the rest of the country (this is one of the things that makes us special). But, I think the decline in visitors to the national parks is a myth.kurt9https://www.blogger.com/profile/02101147267959016924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-37686483582916950082009-08-14T14:14:20.562-07:002009-08-14T14:14:20.562-07:00Booooo! Bad idea! The National Parks I've been...Booooo! Bad idea! The National Parks I've been to in the last decade are plenty crowded - Yosemite, Crater Lake, Zion, Bryce, Rainier. <br /><br />When I hiked up to Half Dome in Yosemite there was a long slow-moving line up the rock to get to the top. There are mules rides for those unable to make the 16 mile round trip hike. Curry Village was more crowded than Disneyland at Spring Break - just awful! More over, it was very diverse - the non whites just stayed in the Valley riding their bikes and didn't make the effort to hike up into the hills.<br /><br />Why do you think making access easier will bring in the minorities? They don't have much interest in easily accessible art museums, broadway shows, classical music, and Legoland.<br /><br />Honestly, why does the outdoors have to be diverse? Can't white people have anything of their own?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-8085114724560086392009-08-14T13:22:19.589-07:002009-08-14T13:22:19.589-07:00I have to agree with Jeff. We don't want more ...I have to agree with Jeff. We don't want more people in the parks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-33737037023667740952009-08-14T13:13:22.664-07:002009-08-14T13:13:22.664-07:00"But as the G.I. generation died out, parks c..."But as the G.I. generation died out, parks ceased to be as popular, I think."<br /><br />Having had G.I. parents who took me to Yellowstone often, and having recently visited myself with my own kids, I can tell you you are incorrect. The parks are MORE crowded.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com