Americanwesttravel.com

19/05/2019

The Bureau of Land Management is weighing increasing its daily visitor limits from 20 to 96 people a day at The Wave, a popular rock formation near the Utah-Arizona border.

A 6-mile (9.5-kilometer) round trip hike through tall sandstone buttes and sage brush is required to get to the Wave, a wide, sloping basin of searing reds, oranges and yellows in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of the most exclusive and dramatic hiking spots in the southwestern United States could see bigger crowds under a new proposal unveiled Wednesday. The Bureau of...

24/12/2017

Here’s wishing you, a healthy, comfortable, And prosperous holidays ahead!

27/10/2017

"You might be asking, What’s this all about?"

"Zinke claims the fee increases are needed to address the Park Service’s reported $12 billion backlog of maintenance projects. “The infrastructure of our national parks is aging and in need of renovation and restoration,” Zinke said in a statement calling for “targeted fee increases at some of our most-visited parks.”"

"I have a hard time believing Zinke’s concern about the infrastructure backlog when, at the same time, he and President Trump are proposing a budget that would cut spending on the Park Service by 13 percent and reduce staff by up to 1,200 employees. Zinke’s deferred maintenance anxiety feels a bit disingenuous—enough crocodile tears to match Yosemite Falls."🤬

Secretary Zinke’s proposal to increase entry fees could make parks an exclusive playground

25/10/2017

"A lot more Americans are getting out to hike and camp. State and national parks are booming. But there's a big downside. More people are showing up in wild lands unprepared, without the right equipment or skills. They're getting lost or hurt and that's putting new pressure on first responders."😲

24/07/2017

Have you found your ideal place to observe the Great American Eclipse?

You wouldn't believe some of the things people are doing to get ready for the Great American Eclipse. We take you on a tour of craziness across the U.S.

23/07/2017

While national parks offer an amazing setting for watching an eclipse, lodging and camping around many of the parks in the path of the total eclipse are full. Expect large crowds, heavy traffic, and parking lot congestion.

No matter where you go, plan ahead. Bring your eclipse glasses. Get there early as parking could be scarce. And bring food and plenty of water.

2017 Eclipse

18/07/2017

No time to delay for $10 senior lifetime pass for national parks.

The price of the lifetime Senior Pass will Increase from $10 to $80 on August 28, 2017. You may buy one online at https://store.usgs.gov/recreational-passes or passes can be purchased at any federal recreation site, including national parks, that charges an entrance fee.

Be aware that the USGS.gov is experiencing a major increase in Senior pass sales with delays of up to twelve weeks. If you need your pass in less than two months, consider purchasing your pass in person at any federal recreation site.

The price of the lifetime America the Beautiful-The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Lifetime Senior Pass will increase from $10 to $80.

26/05/2017

"On Saturday at 9:30 a.m., a hillside near a small ravine known as Mud Creek collapsed, sloughing an estimated 1.5 million tons of rock and mud over the highway and into the ocean."

"The landslide was a third of a mile wide and 40 feet at its deepest. What once was a steep drop into the Pacific was now a broad, sloping bench extending almost 250 feet beyond the shoreline. By some estimates, the collapse had added 15 acres to the coast, a little more than 11 football fields including the end zones."

"And the worst might not be over, said field inspectors who had just returned from the slide."

After Saturday's catastrophic land failure buried part of Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline, geologists and engineers are trying to find a fix. Don't expect an opening any time soon.

24/05/2017

"Glacier National Park is losing its glaciers."

"The flowing sheets of ice scattered throughout the Montana park shrank by more than a third between 1966 and 2015, according to new data from the United States Geological Survey and Portland State University."

Glacier National Park’s eponymous ice sheets lost more than a third of their area between 1966 and 2015. See how every glacier in the park has retreated over 50 years.

12/05/2017

"Experts estimate that 11 million people won’t have to travel at all to observe the total eclipse, and an estimated 76 million more will be within a 200-mile drive of it."

"Because of this unusual accessibility, it will probably be the most-viewed eclipse of all time."

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-eclipse-science-20170512-htmlstory.html

The Great American Eclipse isn't just an event for skywatchers. For scientists, it's an opportunity to collect data about the sun's usually hidden outer atmosphere.