Mammoth Cave National Park, May 25, 2009
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Gallery: Mammoth Cave National Park
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Devil’s Den State Park, Arkansas, March 1, 2008
Lake Devil trail
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Information: Devil’s Den State Park info
Gallery: Devil’s Den State Park
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Small arch near Delicate Arch, Arches National Park – September 24, 2007
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Gallery: Arches National Park
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View from Ozark Highlands Trail along Lake Fort Smith, October 21, 2008
Information: Lake Fort Smith State Park - The State Park that Moved.
Gallery: Lake Fort Smith State Park
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Also known as red squirrels, chickarees are especially fond of pine seeds. To get at the seed, the cones are pried open, leaving a pile of debris that can be up to 3 feet across. Whole cones are stashed in middens for winter use, Often, several generations will add to the same midden over a period of 20 years or more.
Typically, a chickaree will be heard before it’s seen, making a loud rackety call when an intruder enters its territory.
Bear Lake Trail, September 3, 2009
Rocky Mountain National Park
Gallery: Bear Lake and Emerald Lake Trails – September 3, 2009
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Devil’s Den State Park, Arkansas
June 21, 2008
See the photos in our Devil’s Den Gallery
Devil’s Den State Park is located in a deep valley of the Boston Mountain region of the Arkansas Ozarks.
In 1933, Lee Creek Valley was selected as the location for a new state park. Wood and stone park structures, including a stone dam across Lee Creek to form the 8-acre Lake Devil, were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps using local native materials.
Information: Devil’s Den State Park
Gallery: Devil’s Den State Park
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Wishing Well Overlook and, below, Lake Ponder Barrier-Free Trail , Crowley’s Ridge State Park, Arkansas, May 2009
Gallery: Crowley’s Ridge State Park
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North Windows Arch, Windows Area, Windows Trail, Arches National Park.
Gallery: Arches National Park, September 24, 2007
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September 1, 2009 – From the slope of the terminal moraine, looking up the valley of Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. The smoke is from fires burning in California. The building in the foreground is the Moraine Park Visitor Center. We were on a ranger guided walk on a short nature trail at the visitor center, which also has a few museum area inside.
Gallery: Eastern slopes – September 1, 2009
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
According to major news sources, including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, major budget shortfalls in Arizona will result in the closure of 13 state parks by June. Eight others have already been closed.
The Los Angeles Times:
The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves.
“It’s a dark day for the Arizona state parks system,” said Renee Bahl, the system’s executive director.
“We have 65,000 acres around the state and the majority of them are closing.”
The Arizona parks receive about 2.3 million visitors per year who bring about $266 million into the state, Bahl said.
The Arizona State Parks Board has voted unanimously to close 13 parks in response to budget cuts.
The Arizona State Parks Board is closing some of the state’s iconic Old West landmarks, including the Tombstone Courthouse in one of the West’s most storied towns, and the Yuma Territorial Prison, which housed hundreds of Old West outlaws and was portrayed in the film “3:10 to Yuma.”
The decision also closes parks such as Red Rock State Park near Sedona that draw tens of thousands of tourists a year.
The Legislature has cut 61 percent of the state parks budget since July.
In a Huffington Post editorial, Chad Campbell, the House Democratic Whip in the Arizona State Legislature, describes the reappropriation of a quarter of a million dollars meant for state parks:
GOP legislators recently pilfered a nearly $250,000 gift left by an elderly woman – now deceased – for the Arizona State Parks system.
The severity of budget cuts in Arizona is quite disturbing, but the cuts to State Parks have touched an especially raw nerve. In 2003, 82-year-old Asta Forrest left nearly $250,000 to the Arizona State Parks Board. This Danish immigrant’s gift to Arizona was inspired by her love of its beautiful natural surroundings.
It’s ironic that, in today’s rough economic times, state parks are being closed. During the Great Depression, construction of state parks provided need work for thousands of young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
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