ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

The Sierra Club is helping to lead a petition to establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a National Monument. This year marks 50 years since President Eisenhower signed the papers to protect Alaska's upper-most reaches and it's wildlife. Established in the northeastern extremes of Alaska, the ANWR holds the largest variety of flora and fauna of any reserve north of the arctic circle. Growing concerns about oil drilling in this sensitive area of our nation and the building effects of climate change are the Sierra Club's cry for establishing this area as a new National Monument, with more restrictions on such private interests. And for good reason. Pictured above are Sierra Club Conservationists Edgar and Peggy Wayburn, who in 1980 were instrumental in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which expanded the Arctic Refuge and effectively doubled the size of the US National Park System.

BLUE BLAZES

Snaking through America’s north woods, the North Country Trail will eventually stretch from Eastern New York State westward to North Dakota for more than 4,600 miles.  Almost 3,200 of these miles are currently certified by the NCTA.  As many as 10 thru-hikes have been recognized since it’s plan began in 1978.  Due to the trail’s length, location, and orientation, it is necessary for thru-hikers to endure a good chunk of the northern state’s harsh, winter conditions.  While just a baby in the shadow of the AT, this blue-blazed trail will eventually become the longest trail in the National Trails System.  Nimblewill Nomad completed his thru-hike in 2009, nearing the end of his quest to hike all 11 National Scenic Trails.

OLD FAITHFUL VISITOR CENTER

The $27 million Old Faithful Visitor Center opened in Yellowstone National Park last week. If you've been to Yellowstone, you know that Old Faithful already suffers from the overly-decorated concrete, signs, boardwalks and chains. The geyser has an eerie feeling of being man made, but when, according to the NPS, 4 out 5 of the 3.3 million visitors that came to Yellowstone last year came to see Old Faithful, I guess the old boy's show brings in the dough. The new visitor center boasts a bookstore, a gift shop, a theater for introductory films, a research area and a 4,500-square-foot exhibition space. It has touch screen televisions that provide an interactive (!) way to learn about that good ol' geyser that's right outside.One of the reasons I get off on talking about national parks and the NPS is because of its primitive aesthetic. In a world of interactive museums and the Internet, it's fitting that our public lands consist of park Rangers, old maps, dusty visitor centers with 30 year old wildlife pamphlets and WELCOME! signs from the 70s. I guess it's rather inevitable that they're going to "freshen up" the parks, but $27 million on a visitor center, specifically one dedicated to Old Faithful with exhibits that look like this, seems a little excessive. But what do I know, eh?Read more at the NYT.

National Park Service Rangers

The term "Ranger" was first applied to a reorganization of the Fire Warden force in the Adirondack Park, after 1899 when fires burned 80,000 acres in the park. The name was taken from Rogers' Rangers, a small force famous for their woodcraft that fought in the area during the French and Indian War in 1755. The term was then adopted by the National Park Service.The first Director of the National Park Service, Stephen T. Mather, summed up the early park rangers as follows:

They are a fine, earnest, intelligent, and public-spirited body of men, these rangers. Though small in number, their influence is large. Many and long are the duties heaped upon their shoulders. If a trail is to be blazed, it is "send a ranger." If an animal is floundering in the snow, a ranger is sent to pull him out; if a bear is in the hotel, if a fire threatens a forest, if someone is to be saved, it is "send a ranger." If a Dude wants to know the why, if a Sagebrusher is puzzled about a road, it is "ask the ranger." Everything the ranger knows, he will tell you, except about himself.****

****Lots more photos after the jump.

Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world. It is approximately 70 feet in diameter and over 121 feet deep. The spring discharges an estimated 560 US gallons of 160 °F (70 °C) water per minute.The vivid colors in Grand Prismatic are the result of pigmented bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids and on the temperature of the water that favors one bacterium over another. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green. The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.