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Grand Canyon Ranger Lisa Hendy Receives National Park Service’s Top Honor

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:31:52 +0000

Lisa Hendy was driving through Wyoming in a blizzard when she received the news that she had just been awarded the National Park Service's (NPS) 2011 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence, in effect dubbing her as the best ranger in the nation.

"I had to pull over when my supervisor told me," she told OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine. "Afterwards, I drove for a while trying to absorb the news and realized I was 11 miles past my turn off. It was overwhelming."

Glacier National Park Ranger Honored as Best in the Nation

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:48:13 +0000

Could you imagine a job where on any given day you might handle a wild cougar, rescue someone from the top of a mountain, fight a wildland fire, treat a heart attack victim, teach a winter survival class, or hike with an 80-pound pack through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world?

Those tasks are just some of the many duties performed by Glacier National Park Ranger Scott Emmerich. In recognition of a career of extraordinary accomplishments, Emmerich received the 2010 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence in rangering during a Capitol Hill ceremony June 8.

Silverado Resort’s Executive Chef Peter Pahk Keeps It Natural

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:56:56 +0000

Peter Pahk is one of the West's new breed of pioneers, trailblazing innovative ideas for sustainable food practices and encouraging the use of locally grown and organic ingredients as the foundation for world-class cuisine offerings.

The executive chief at Napa Valley, California's Silverado Resort, Pahk is showing that award-winning presentations not only can embrace "green" initiatives, but please the palate and the eye as well.

"What every chef tries to do is fit himself or herself into the region he goes into," Pahk told OldWestNewWest.Com. "I'm lucky to be here. There are so many wonderful products around us, so many organic products here in Napa Valley and all up and down the California coast."

Pahk is even leading the way to recycling food scraps at the prestigious four-diamond luxury resort just 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Veteran Travel Writers Paul Lasley, Elizabeth Harryman Bringing Their Expertise to OldWestNewWest.Com

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:35:29 +0000

Noted travel writers Paul Lasley and Elizabeth Harryman will be bringing their travel expertise to OldWestNewWest.Com Travel & History Magazine starting with this month, announced Mike Harris, publisher, saying that the two experts will provide expanded coverage of travel news and adventures happening in the West.

Western Author Writes As If She Lived It

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Terry Michaels) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:45:05 +0000

When it comes to writing about the Old West, Melody Groves says she feels as if she's lived it; of course since she is a gun-toting Western re-enactor, she really does live it just about every weekend at Albuquerque, New Mexico's Old Town.

"I write what I live-and live what I write," says the award-winning Western author. "As a native New Mexican, I've traversed deserts, ridden horses, explored ghost towns, and embraced the Old West as well as the New West."

Public’s Interest in the West Remains Strong, Says Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:03:16 +0000

On Sept. 28, 1542, Spanish explorer and conquistador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed his flagship San Salvador into San Diego Bay, opening California's door to what some would call the curse of civilization.

What followed over the next 400-plus years became the facts and legends of American West history-Spanish colonial settlement of the Southwest, California's gold rush, the War with Mexico, tens of thousands of emigrants moving West, The American Civil War, Indian wars, the building of the transcontinental railroad, and the discovery of oil in California.

Civil War Preservation Trust Fights To Save Battlefields in the West

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:46:00 +0000

James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, is keenly aware that the American Civil War battlefields in the West are in danger from development or deterioration, and that time is running out on the ability to fully preserve them.

Specifically he's talking about the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas, Picacho Pass in Arizona, two Confederate forts below New Orleans, the Glorieta Battlefield in New Mexico and the Battle of Westport in Missouri, to name a few.

New Chief Historian for Nation’s Parks No Stranger to History of the West

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:35:11 +0000

Dr. Robert Sutton, the new chief historian for the National Park Service, has roots that reach back deep into the history of the West.

"Both of my great-grandparents were on the Oregon Trail," Sutton, a native of Portland, Ore., told OldWestNewWest.Com. "My grandfather had a wheat farm in Oregon that was almost feet from the Oregon Trail. History has always had a great fascination for me, ever since my childhood."

On Oct. 1 Sutton became only the ninth chief historian for the NPS, responsible for the seemingly overwhelming job of managing the service's many history programs.

Award-Winning Artist Stresses Accuracy When Painting the Old West

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:00:56 +0000

Perhaps no one can capture the spirit, legend and culture of the Old West better than the Western artist. Painters such as Frederic Remington (1861-1909), William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) and Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), men who lived during the time of the West, provided the nation with images of gunfights, cattle stampedes and westward-moving pioneers that remain benchmarks for how we perceive the Old West.

Many of today’s Western artists proudly carry on that tradition. One of those is Wyoming’s Larry Edgar, who is meticulous about representing the Old West as accurately as possible, right down to clothing, tack, firearms and historic settings.

One Author’s Battle To Preserve A Treasured Part Of Old West History

Mikeharris@oldwestnewwest.com (Mike Harris) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:42:37 +0000

Some call it America’s Barn, others call it a Wyoming treasure, but no matter what you call it, the historic Moulton Barn in Grand Teton National Park would have disappeared by now without the efforts of one Western author, Candy Vyvey Moulton.

In the early 1990s, the Moulton Barn, along with other historic buildings in the park, literally were falling apart.