Daily Press Writer
MONTROSE — Starting this season, visitors to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park could have what amounts to a park ranger in their pocket.
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Phil Zichterman, the park’s public information officer, said the pod casts are a way for the park to make up for dwindling staff while also increasing the amount of information about the park available online.
“This is one way that we can at least spread the interpretive tours and the message out to as many people as we can,” he said.
Park officials created files for 12 stops along the south rim, including Tomichi Point and the Painted Wall. Each stop has segments devoted to geology, history, life science and recreation.
There are 48 files in all, with each lasting between one and three minutes in length.
Zichterman said the files are also handy for spreading the word about the park to those who aren’t among the 200,000 visitors who come through the gates each year.
Now anyone interested in taking a tour of the south rim can do so from their computer. Zichterman said the park’s Web site receives more than 700,000 unique visits annually.
Black Canyon is the first among a handful of parks such as Yellowstone and Valley Forge to pod-cast their interpretive tours.
Zichterman said the staff spent nearly two years working on the project and placed extra emphasis on the accuracy of the information.
“If we wanted to be the first out of the chute, we wanted to make sure to have a good product out there,” he said.
Although the new technology will allow the park to do more with less, next year could see park staff grow thanks to a funding initiative by President Bush.
Zichterman said Black Canyon and Curecanti National Recreation Area will have six positions added in 2008.
The additional staffing will provide some benefit to the park’s interpretive programs, possibly paving the way for the return of campfire programs and nature walks that have been scaled back since the mid-1990s.
Contact Matt Hildner via e-mail at matth@montrosepress.com
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