The National Park Service is seeking public comment on a draft report on progress made addressing threats to Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1978. The World Heritage Committee placed Yellowstone on its List of World Heritage in Danger in 1995.
This is the sixth report to the World Heritage Committee on the conditions of the park since the park was removed from the list in 2003. It includes plans and actions currently underway that specifically seek to redress the 1995 threats and dangers. The report follows a visit this past summer from the Director of the World Heritage Centre and a representative of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), during which they observed the state of the park's resources and progress in a addressing conservation challenges.
All member nations of the World Heritage Convention voluntarily nominate their own sites embracing outstanding natural or cultural values. Member nations retain complete sovereignty over each site and over the operation of locations added to the World Heritage List.
The draft progress report is available for public review and comment until January 20, 2012 through the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment website.
All comments will be reviewed by the National Park Service and transmitted, in their entirety, along with the final report to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Glacier National Park Featured on New Postage Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that an image of Glacier National Park has been selected for an international rate stamp to be issued on January 19th. The stamp was selected as part of the Postal Service's "Scenic American Landscapes" series.
The 85-cent stamp features a photo of Logan Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, taken by nature photographer Michael Melford:
To see images of all the newest stamps, please click here (the Logan Pass stamp is #46 on the list).
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
The 85-cent stamp features a photo of Logan Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, taken by nature photographer Michael Melford:
To see images of all the newest stamps, please click here (the Logan Pass stamp is #46 on the list).
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
U.S. Postal Service Delays Closure of Post Offices
Last July the U.S. Postal Service announced that they would be conducting a study to determine the need for some 3700 retail post offices. Potentially, the USPS was prepared to eliminate more than 10% of all their post offices around the country. Most of these closings were likely to occur in rural areas, such as those found along the Continental Divide Trail or Appalachian Trail.
This decision would have a significant impact on long-distance hikers. Thru-hikers, and section hikers, use the services of post offices to forward, or pre-deliver, food, gear and other supplies as they proceed along the trail. Many backpackers fear that it will become much more difficult to thru-hike trails like the Continental Divide Trail, or the Pacific Crest Trail, due to possibility of having to carry significantly more weight in their packs.
As for now, however, rural post offices have received a stay of execution. The USPS recently made this announcement on their website:
The U.S. Postal Service, in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators, has agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012. The Postal Service will continue all necessary steps required for the review of these facilities during the interim period, including public input meetings.
The Postal Service hopes this period will help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation. Given the Postal Service’s financial situation and the loss of mail volume, the Postal Service must continue to take all steps necessary to reduce costs and increase revenue.
This is partial good news for thru-hikers. Most northbound hikers on the Continental Divide Trail will have already knocked-out a couple of hundred miles by the time that deadline rolls around. At least up until that point they'll be able use the postal service for their supply drops.
As I mentioned in a posting back in July, I believe the private sector will step-in and continue to offer re-supply services to hikers in the event of any closures. However, things might be a bit confusing for hikers already on the trail this year.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
This decision would have a significant impact on long-distance hikers. Thru-hikers, and section hikers, use the services of post offices to forward, or pre-deliver, food, gear and other supplies as they proceed along the trail. Many backpackers fear that it will become much more difficult to thru-hike trails like the Continental Divide Trail, or the Pacific Crest Trail, due to possibility of having to carry significantly more weight in their packs.
As for now, however, rural post offices have received a stay of execution. The USPS recently made this announcement on their website:
The U.S. Postal Service, in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators, has agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012. The Postal Service will continue all necessary steps required for the review of these facilities during the interim period, including public input meetings.
The Postal Service hopes this period will help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation. Given the Postal Service’s financial situation and the loss of mail volume, the Postal Service must continue to take all steps necessary to reduce costs and increase revenue.
This is partial good news for thru-hikers. Most northbound hikers on the Continental Divide Trail will have already knocked-out a couple of hundred miles by the time that deadline rolls around. At least up until that point they'll be able use the postal service for their supply drops.
As I mentioned in a posting back in July, I believe the private sector will step-in and continue to offer re-supply services to hikers in the event of any closures. However, things might be a bit confusing for hikers already on the trail this year.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
How Unique is Triple Divide Peak?
Most people familiar with Glacier National Park are likely familiar with Triple Divide Peak. The significance of this mountain, near Cut Bank, is that it's the point where rain water flowing down its slopes eventually ends up in the Pacific, Atlantic or Arctic Oceans.
Geographically, the summit of Triple Divide Peak lies at the point where the Northern Divide (or Laurentian Divide) meets the Great Divide (or, what many people call "The Continental Divide").
While hiking to Medicine Grizzly Lake this past summer I wondered how many other triple divides existed in the world. After doing a little research on the internet I really couldn't find a definitive answer to this question. On its Triple Divide Peak page, Wikipedia states that it's "one of the few places on the Earth whose waters feed three oceans".
However, the article on continental divides on Wikipedia has a world map showing drainage areas into the major oceans and seas of the world. The map uses data from the USGS Hydro1k project from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Looking at the map below (click here for a larger version) you can see there are several places around the world that have triple divides. Look a little closer and you'll notice that most have drainage areas flowing into two oceans, but the other flowing into a sea, such as the Mediterranean, or the Gulf of Mexico. One such triple divide lies near Hibbing, Minnesota, where water either flows north into the Arctic Ocean, east into the Atlantic, or south into the Gulf of Mexico. In my view though, the Gulf and the Atlantic are one in the same.
I guess the real question I had was how many triple divides have water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world. Surely there had to be at least two on the European-Asian continents. Again, looking at the map below, you'll see at least four triple divides on the Euro-Asian continents. However, in all four cases, one of the drainage areas flows into what is known as an endorheic basin, where water doesn't drain into an ocean. A perfect example of this is the Great Basin, which covers much of Nevada, and parts of Wyoming, California, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. According to this map, most of south-central Asia doesn't drain into an ocean.
Therefore, from what I can gather, it appears that Triple Divide Peak is the only place in the world that has water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world.
Please let me know if I am incorrect on this assumption.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Geographically, the summit of Triple Divide Peak lies at the point where the Northern Divide (or Laurentian Divide) meets the Great Divide (or, what many people call "The Continental Divide").
While hiking to Medicine Grizzly Lake this past summer I wondered how many other triple divides existed in the world. After doing a little research on the internet I really couldn't find a definitive answer to this question. On its Triple Divide Peak page, Wikipedia states that it's "one of the few places on the Earth whose waters feed three oceans".
However, the article on continental divides on Wikipedia has a world map showing drainage areas into the major oceans and seas of the world. The map uses data from the USGS Hydro1k project from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Looking at the map below (click here for a larger version) you can see there are several places around the world that have triple divides. Look a little closer and you'll notice that most have drainage areas flowing into two oceans, but the other flowing into a sea, such as the Mediterranean, or the Gulf of Mexico. One such triple divide lies near Hibbing, Minnesota, where water either flows north into the Arctic Ocean, east into the Atlantic, or south into the Gulf of Mexico. In my view though, the Gulf and the Atlantic are one in the same.
I guess the real question I had was how many triple divides have water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world. Surely there had to be at least two on the European-Asian continents. Again, looking at the map below, you'll see at least four triple divides on the Euro-Asian continents. However, in all four cases, one of the drainage areas flows into what is known as an endorheic basin, where water doesn't drain into an ocean. A perfect example of this is the Great Basin, which covers much of Nevada, and parts of Wyoming, California, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. According to this map, most of south-central Asia doesn't drain into an ocean.
Therefore, from what I can gather, it appears that Triple Divide Peak is the only place in the world that has water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world.
Please let me know if I am incorrect on this assumption.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from HikinginGlacier.com! To help ring in the new year and get hikers and Glacier Park lovers excited about 2012, I wanted to share a brand new video that I just posted to Youtube the other day. It's called a Photographic Tour of Glacier National Park, and highlights scenes from around the park. Hope you enjoy:
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
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