A Park Celebrating TR, One We Never Bypass
©Bert Gildart: It’s impossible for us to pass near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and not make the 50-mile detour south to camp there, even if it is only for a night. This year we particularly wanted to see these Badlands because everything seems so lush. We were not disappointed.
The park is divided into a North Unit and a South Unit, but this time around we only had time for only the North Unit, which is separated from the South Unit by about 30 miles. Over the years I’ve written about six stories for a variety of magazines and done so because this isolated area grows on you, celebrating as it does grasslands, buffalo, wild horses – and the rugged life of Theodore Roosevelt.
ROOSEVELT SAID BADLANDS MADE HIM PRESIDENT
After settling into a campsite we drove the park road to the Little Missouri Overlook and I was reminded that once Roosevelt had marched two thieves to justice along this river, staying awake reading Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Later he remarked that Karenina was unprincipled. He also said in later years that “If it had not been for my days in the Badlands of North Dakota I would never have been president of the United States.”
Little Missouri flowing through badlands lush with an abundance of vegetation not often seen.
Roosevelt also found solace here, having fled to these very same badlands shortly after his wife and mother died on the same exact day; and as I looked over the expanse of badlands I could see how one might simultaneously find physical challenge and peace. Before me the river flowed serenely and the expanse of lush vegetation that rolled over the Badlands on our July visit offered a sense of well being. But the Badlands that backdropped the Little Missouri could also offer hardship, something one is instantly aware of when the winds wail and when you struggle to climb a steep hill on a day temperatures approach the hundred degree mark.
On this brief stop, however, Janie and I saw only the most benevolent side. The river flowed clear and blue, bison starred back from shaded bluffs, and soft breezes caressed a multitude of flowers and grasses that bowed and dipped on this mild mid summer day.
And now, we’re back on the highway sufficiently rejuvenated to cope with another few days of highway travel.
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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:
*The Park That Made a President
ADS FROM GOOGLE AND AMAZON AUGMENT OUR TRAVELS
In the spring, the Fort Peck hatchery relies on a group of volunteers (The Walleye Program) to extract eggs and milt from walleye. This year, 150 volunteers helped take eggs.
First, they set out nets, then they extracted the eggs. From this process over 58.2 million “green” walleye eggs were taken from wild walleye and brought into the new Fort Peck hatchery. Eggs are brought back to the hatchery in heavy fish bags.
After eggs are brought into the hatchery, they are subjected to a number of different procedures. Milt of the males is subjected to a sperm extender, something like sugary water. Because welleye eggs become sticky when fertilized, “we use diatomaceious earth to eliminate the stickiness. Without this procedure, the fertilized eggs would stick to the jars, into whihch they are then placed.
After eggs are placed into the jars, they are then water hardened, and this makes the eggs so they are so hard, they can be literally bounced off the floor, they’re that tough. Walleye are placed into a about 40 ponds and then are planted into the reservoir. At this time, B.J. says they are little more then “two eyeballs and a tail.”
Fertilized eggs remain in jars for about 10 days, then the fingerlings remain in jars for about 10 days. Sometime during this period, the fingerlings migrate to the top of the jars, then follow conduits to large holding tanks in which they remain until they are ready to be placed into one of the 40 outside holding tanks, or until they are ready to be placed into Fort Peck Reservoir. Ponds are prepared for the arrival of fingerlings about two weeks before they arrive. Technicians fill the tanks about two weeks before their arrival and this allows zooplankton to establish itself. Zooplankton includes the microscopic cocapods and the equally tiny amoeba.
July 21st, 2010 at 7:27 am
Wish we were there. What a lovely shot Bert. Good to know you’re on the road. Look forward to seeing you when we do.
July 21st, 2010 at 11:11 am
Nit-picking time (or why your wife should read your entry prior to posting). Did you mean to cite Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’ in reference to TR in the third paragraph?
Safe travels.
July 21st, 2010 at 11:30 am
Thank you much, Wil Mosher. Usually I do exactly what you suggested and Janie would have picked up the incorrect spelling of Karenina. But since she didn’t read I again thank you for correcting the spelling.