Category Archives: National parks

Yosemite national park: 170 recent visitors suffer norovirus symptoms

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Two cases of upset stomach and diarrhea confirmed as norovirus, as park says it is undertaking ‘extensive cleaning’ efforts

Roughly 170 people who have visited Yosemite national park in recent weeks have suffered upset stomachs and diarrhea, symptoms that park officials say are consistent with norovirus.

Two of those cases have been confirmed as norovirus, park officials say. The park spokesman Scott Gediman issued a written statement that most of those who fell ill had spent time in Yosemite Valley around the first week of January.

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Australia bushfires live: NSW and Victoria survey damage as fires merge to form new ‘megablaze’ – latest updates

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This liveblog is now closed

We will leave our coverage of the ongoing bushfire crisis here for the night. A mercifully quiet day on firegrounds across the country.

Here is where things stand:

We have a bit more information about the man who was burned while defending his property near Tumbarumba in New South Wales yesterday.

The man was an RFS volunteer, but he was not engaged in RFS work yesterday. Instead, Guardian Australia understands, he was driving a quad bike around his own property defending against spot fires when he received burns to his leg.

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Hiker killed by huge falling redwood tree in California national park

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Authorities say a 28-year-old became pinned in a ‘very rare’ incident in Muir Woods, famed for its towering trees, on Christmas Eve

A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods national monument park in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said on Thursday.

Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin county coroner’s office and a spokesman for the park.

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Ivanka Trump’s embrace of nature sparks cries of hypocrisy

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The president’s daughter shared photos of a vacation in Wyoming, causing blowback over her father’s poor environmental record

Ivanka Trump shared a series of pictures on social media over the weekend of herself, husband Jared Kushner and their children availing themselves of the natural wonders of Wyoming.

“Love. Wonder. Wander. Repeat,” the president’s daughter and adviser captioned in one photo, in front of a painterly backdrop.

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Gladys Berejiklian urged to rule out logging in Murray Valley national park

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Labor says deputy premier John Barilaro’s plan is outrageous while the Greens label it ‘criminal’

New South Wales Labor has demanded Gladys Berejiklian rule out Liberal party support for a Nationals bill that would open up the Murray Valley national park to logging.

The premier refused to comment on Thursday after the deputy premier, John Barilaro, vowed to de-gazette the park in the state’s Riverina region or reduce its size.

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On Loch Lomond’s banks, anger grows at £30m resort plan

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Locals and naturalists oppose a proposed hotel development on ‘beautiful and historic’ wooded national park land

A storm is brewing on the banks of Loch Lomond. One of Scotland’s most serene beauty sites has been rocked by a planning and environmental row that swamps anything the elements can throw at it.

Last week, updated plans for a £30m leisure facility near the small town of Balloch at the southern end of the loch were presented to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park. The project has the backing of Scottish Enterprise, the government agency tasked with stimulating economic development and investment.

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Grand Canyon tourists possibly exposed to radiation at museum, whistleblower says

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Park safety director alleges buckets of uranium sat near exhibit for almost 20 years, but interior department says there’s no risk

For almost 20 years, workers and visiting school children at a Grand Canyon museum may have been unknowingly exposed to radiation from three buckets of uranium sitting next to a taxidermy exhibit, according to allegations from a National Park Service safety director.

The whistleblower says officials learned about the buckets last year and tried to hide the revelation, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper. Earlier this month, Elston “Swede” Stephenson emailed all park staff and brought the matter to the attention of the head of the interior department, which oversees the park service, and the agency’s internal watchdog.

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How Hollywood’s national park is recovering from wildfires

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Recent wildfires scorched 90% of the federally protected Santa Monica Mountains – destroying a 1950s Hollywood set and affecting biodiversity. But life is slowly coming back

The fire came quickly. Fueled by dry, blustering winds, officials were unable to contain the Woolsey fire before it scorched the canyons of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, taking close to 97,000 acres and 1,500 properties with it.

One of the great casualties was the Santa Monica Mountains national recreation area. Nearly 90% of the federally owned land burned in the November 2018 blaze. The park is home to popular hiking trails, a rich ecosystem of plant and wildlife, including mountain lions and coyotes, as well as famous spots such as the Paramount Ranch’s “Western Town” (a well-known Hollywood set location), the historic 1927 Peter Strauss Ranch house, a research field station and ranger residences. Nearly all of them burned to the ground.

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Joshua Tree national park ‘may take 300 years to recover’ from shutdown

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National park saw ‘irreparable’ damage including vandalism, ruined trails and trees cut down, says former superintendent

The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take hundreds of years to recover from damage caused by visitors during the longest-ever government shutdown.

“What’s happened to our park in the last 34 days is irreparable for the next 200 to 300 years,” Curt Sauer said at a rally over the weekend, according to a report from the Desert Sun. Sauer retired in 2010 after running the park for seven years.

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