Parkwire

Oregon's Legislature appears poised to add three no-fishing marine reserves off the coast, designating what amounts to 38-square-miles of ocean wilderness despite continued concerns from fishing groups.

Coastal legislators from both parties have signed off on Senate Bill 1510, in part because they fear ocean conservation groups might otherwise push a statewide ballot measure to put much more of Oregon's biologically rich territorial sea off limits. Read more

TUNIS, Tunisia, February 2, 2012 (ENS) - A seasonal salt lake on the edge of the Sahara desert heads a list of 15 new Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance being declared in Tunisia today to mark World Wetlands Day, February 2.

Chott Elguetar, a 7,400 hectare (28 square mile) site with an intermittent lake, contains traces of human religious and industrial activity that date back 40,000 years.

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CHICAGO | U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., plans to sponsor a resolution that could someday result in the remains of the old Pullman rail car factory and surrounding neighborhood being turned into a national park located in the Chicago area.

Jackson said Tuesday that his resolution, which he plans to introduce before the House of Representatives later this week, calls for a feasibility study into the development of the area to attract tourists to Chicago's far South Side by emphasizing the historic significance of the old Pullman factory. Read more

Mammoth Cave National Park generates $62 million for the south central Kentucky area each year, according to a recent economic impact study by the National Park Service.

Beginning at the national level, the study reveals how the national park system as a whole, has a trickle-down effect that pays out big dividends to the communities adjacent to each park. Read more

All Rep. Emanuel Cleaver wants is for his hometown's World War I memorial to have the status of a national monument.

But as with most things on Capitol Hill, it's not so simple for the Missouri Democrat and Congressional Black Caucus chairman, who might be forced to abandon his years-long mission in deference to the District of Columbia.

Like most war stories, this one has a long history and unforeseen consequences.

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LIMA — Peruvian officials on Tuesday urged outsiders to stay away from isolated Amazon basin rainforest natives after pictures of "uncontacted" tribe members were published online.

Mariela Huacchillo with the Peru's office for Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP) told AFP that even indirect contact with the indigenous people could spread deadly viruses that do not exist in the region. The natives could also be hostile, she warned. Read more

The North Coast community is facing a multitude of serious cuts in state and local services. In this context, the year 2012 will prove to be a critical year for the future of our state parks. The fact is, unless the people of the state decide otherwise and convince elected officials such as Governor Brown to act, the future existence of a healthy, diverse, and robust park system is in question. Read more

Parks Canada has abandoned its feasibility assessment, and is stepping away from plans to create a national park in the South Okanagan-Similkameen.

On its website, Parks Canada says it "respects the position of the Government of British Columbia regarding the creation of a national park reserve in the South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen Valley and recognizes that it cannot proceed without the support of the Government of British Columbia."

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As conservationists celebrated the tough sentences imposed on three Mozambican rhino poachers on Wednesday, Kruger National Park managers warned that 50 percent of its field rangers were preparing for an indefinite strike from Friday.

The park has become the epicentre of a nationwide wave of rhino-horn poaching and the park’s force of about 500 rangers is battling to patrol the country’s biggest wildlife park, which covers 2 million hectares of land next to the Mozambique border. Read more

National Park earlier this week has prompted a federal-state investigation that will likely offer a cash reward for information that helps catch the culprits.

"It's a bad thing," park spokesman Tom Farrell said Wednesday. "We'll do what we can to bring these people to justice."

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 02, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Presidio Historical Association (PHA) and Sierra Club filed a Federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court late Wednesday to halt proposed new construction on the Main Post of the Presidio of San Francisco, a historic national park in San Francisco. The lawsuit charges the park's managing Federal agency, the Presidio Trust, with failing to comply with the Presidio Trust Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Read more

Four million dollars from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund bought at least 385 acres for Richmond National Battlefield Park, a purchase that preserves hallowed ground and is seen as economic development for tourism. Read more

(Reuters) - A coalition of environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife advocates have filed a federal lawsuit to block a project by the artist Christo that would drape fabric canopies along a long stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Opponents of the Bulgarian-born Christo's proposed "Over the River" project sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Denver, saying the agency violated federal law and its own policies when it gave final approval to the project last fall. Read more

New York (January 31, 2012)—Conservationists working in Central Africa to save the world’s rarest gorilla have good news: the Cross River gorilla has more suitable habitat than previously thought, including vital corridors that, if protected, can help the great apes move between sites in search of mates, according to the North Carolina Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups. Read more

A Nov. 7 headline in the Denver Post jolted Joan Anzelmo as she perused the morning news at home in Jackson. The artist Christo’s proposal to suspend fabric panels across the Arkansas River in Colorado had received federal approval.

“My jaw just dropped,” Anzelmo recalled.

Having spent the past four years in Colorado as the superintendent of Colorado National Monument, Anzelmo, former spokeswoman of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, was familiar with Christo’s “Over the River” project. Read more

An assessment of the cultural and historical resources in the six-county Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area indicates a vast amount of historic sites, museums, trails and recreation areas that can be used to attract visitors to northwest Alabama.

About two dozen people attended a presentation Tuesday where a group of consultants discussed the assets and their economic potential if they're properly marketed and preserved.

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Illinois is so broke that virtually nothing is sacred: Even historic sites connected to Abraham Lincoln could face significant cuts in the upcoming state budget.

State preservation officials warn that expected deep cuts, coming after reductions of 15 percent and 16 percent in the past two years, will risk shuttering some locations and cutting back on staff and hours at others.

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IT IS A PECULIAR TWIST of logic that we elevate a small handful of Australian actors to be called national treasures, yet our national parks struggle to make even B-grade celebrity status.

In truth, our national parks are 'national' in name only. Largely the creation of state governments, these should-be national treasures enjoy very little national oversight or protection.

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