Category Archives: California

News, State Parks

California state parks officials plan to install ATMs for park admission

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

California park officials are planning to speed up the park entrance process by installing ATMs that will allow visitors to pay fees by debit or credit cart. Funding for the new equipment was set aside by legislation which provided $750,000 to “modernize the system in hopes of increasing revenue.”

From the article:

Plans call for the automation to be installed soon at about a dozen locations, including Emerald Bay State Park at Lake Tahoe, Point Mugu in the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area near Pacheco Pass. The machines are equipped with encryption devices to deter ID theft, Stearns said.

The new machines will allow park visitors to pay for admission hourly or part days.

You can read the whole article HERE.

National Parks

CNN Highlights Yosemite – “A crown jewel of the national parks”

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Katia Hetter posted an article in the Summer In The Park series on the CNN.com website.

From the article:

(CNN) — Yosemite National Park has almost everything a nature lover could desire: Glorious waterfalls, spectacular meadows and valleys, groves of ancient sequoias and the wildlife that call the park home.

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National Forests, National Parks

NPS Introduces Healthy Food Policy For National Parks

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Vacation. The time to let go, relax, and enjoy the scenery. Go where you want, eat what you want … no, wait, can’t to that anymore.

The National Park Service has announce a new ‘healthy food policy’ as part of the “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” initiative. New food standards and ‘sustainable’ food guidelines will now change what you can eat at our national parks.

What is the “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” initiative? Another nonsensical government program … brought to you by the same people who think taking trash cans out of national parks will ‘encourage people to take their trash with them.’

According to the NPS website, “Healthy Parks Healthy People” is a holistic approach to promoting the health and well-being of people and the sustainability of the planet.

Healthy Parks, Healthy People US  is a National Park Service initiative working to reintegrate human, environmental and ecological health into the mission of public parks and public lands.

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Activities, Hiking - General, National Parks

Pure hiking bliss in Yosemite

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Marek Warszawski wrote in the Fresno Bee about two great hikes in Yosemite: Four-Mile and Panorama Trail.

From the article:

“…If I’m going to visit Yosemite Valley in late spring or summer (and have to deal with all the traffic and hordes of tourists), it’s going to be for a hike you can’t do anywhere else. One with more knock-your-socks-off views per footstep than any in the park, if not the world.

This hike is so good, it can’t be contained by one trail. Combine the Four Mile Trail from the Valley to Glacier Point and the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point back to the Valley, and you get 13.8 miles of pure hiking bliss.

Of course, you don’t have to hike both trails. Either is worthwhile by itself. But by combining them, you get the full experience without having to retrace your steps or arrange a shuttle…”

You can read the whole article HERE.

News, State Parks

California State Parks launches Parks Forward Commission

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Press release from the California State Parks:

California Natural Resources Agency, California State Park Officials Announce Sweeping New “Parks Forward” Initiative

New Commission Created to Transform California’s State Parks System 

SACRAMENTO , CA (Mon. June 3, 2013).–California Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird and California State Parks Director Major General Anthony L. Jackson, USMC (Ret.), today unveiled “Parks Forward,” a collaborative initiative to undertake a top-to-bottom evaluation to improve and sustain California’s underfunded State Parks System. A distinguished volunteer panel, known as the Parks Forward Commission, will lead the new Parks Forward initiative, designed to implement the directives of the California State Parks Stewardship Act of 2012 and to revive and improve California’s State Parks.

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