Blue Ridge National Parkway officials in Virginia  say they have an “epidemic” of naked men running loose in their park this spring.  Sounds a little strong, but we can’t say for sure because we aren’t quite certain how many naked men constitute an epidemic.

Here’s a statement released this morning by the National Park Service:

On the morning of May 1st, a suspect fleeing from the Virginia State Police for a speeding violation entered the park in the Love Gap area.  Shortly after coming onto the parkway, he lost control of his vehicle, resulting in the vehicle flipping onto its

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A statement released today by the the National Park Service (It wasn’t the first incident like this at the park last month):

On April 13th, Blue Ridge (North Carolina and Virginia) National Parkway rangers received a report that state police had a man in custody who may have been involved in a possible accident in the area where the parkway crosses over Interstate 77. Upon arriving on scene, rangers learned that a man travelling the parkway drove his vehicle off the road and through a field, eventually striking a fence that parallels I-77. He then decided to take off …

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Two bodies were found in the Grand Canyon last week according to a pair of statements released recently by the National Park Service. Here are the statements.

Missing Man’s Body Found Below South Rim
Last Thursday afternoon, rangers received a report from a Peregrine Fund staffer of a possible body below the South Rim in the Mather Point area. Due to poor weather conditions and the late hour, rangers had to wait until Friday to confirm the report. They spotted the body that morning and rappelled 500 feet to the victim’s location. The body was retrieved by helicopter and

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From the “Be careful what you post on Facebook” file. These vandals from the University of New Mexico were caught by a crafty El Morro National Monument ranger who tracked them down using Facebook. Now they owe $30,000 in fines.

From the National Park Service:

On March 21st, two South Korean foreign exchange students attending the University of New Mexico on student visas pled guilty to charges of disturbing an archeological site. On October 13, 2011, park employees discovered two names – “Super Duper Dana” and “Gabriel” – illegally carved into the sandstone bluff known as Inscription Rock. After ascertaining that

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From the National Park Service:

On March 10th, US marshals contacted (Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park) rangers and asked for assistance in locating Christopher Howard, a wanted armed robbery suspect. A tip had been received that he might be hiding out in the park. Howard, who had been on the run since last October, was wanted for an armed robbery in Little Rock, during which he attacked a security officer with a box cutter. Howard was able to avoid the marshals earlier in the day when they attempted to take him into custody in the park on Bathhouse Row, but he managed

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From Yellowstone National Park:

Gary Nelson, a long-time Yellowstone law enforcement ranger, passed away unexpectedly on April 4th. Gary suffered a fatal heart attack while stopped along the West Entrance Road in the park last Wednesday morning. He was just 56 years old.

Gary was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1955 and graduated from Oregon State University.  Gary’s love of photography and elk drew him to Yellowstone in the late 1970′s, and he began working at the Hamilton Stores in 1979 to “support his photography habit” according to his brother Rick Nelson.

Gary began his NPS Yellowstone career in 1982

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From Blue Ridge National Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains. (The Parkway stretches from Virginia to North Carolina):

On the evening of March 31st, rangers were dispatched to the Craggy Gardens picnic area in response to a 911 call concerning a probable drug overdose. Upon arrival, they found a man and woman parked in a vehicle, both exhibiting an altered mental status. They said that they’d ingested psilocybin mushrooms, with the woman adding that she was dead and had no pulse. Rangers and EMS personnel began an assessment and noted that the woman was suffering from periodic convulsive events.  At one

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UW graduate Rory Westberg is retiring from the National Park Service this month after 32 years. Westberg, deputy regional director for resources management and planning, is requesting that instead of retirement gifts people make donations to the Margaret Anderson Memorial Fund. Anderson, a Mount Rainier law enforcement ranger, was shot and killed while on duty on Jan. 1.

A statement released today by the National Park Service:

Rory Westberg, deputy regional director for resources management and planning, will retire on March 30th after almost 32 years with the National Park Service.

Rory began his federal career in with the Environmental

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