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The Badlands of South Dakota have inspired generations of artists, and participants in the Artists in Residence program at Badlands National Park have included photographers, painters, printmakers, writers and poets, a ceramicist and a composer. They've produced some outstanding work, and you can now enjoy their creativity via a new on-line exhibit.

Thanks to an alert seven-year-old Junior Ranger and a partnership between Badlands National Park and the Rapid City Regional Hospital, a prehistoric saber tooth cat skull fossil had a seemingly improbable appointment with state-of-the-art 21st century technology for a CT scan.

A coalition announced plans today to sue federal agencies, including the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, for failing to protect airsheds over national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges.

Pending the results of management plan vetting currently under way, the National Park Service is primed to turn administrative responsibilities for the South Unit of Badlands National Park over to the Oglala Sioux Tribe for management as America's first tribal national park.

Many seven year olds—or adults—probably can't spell "paleontologist," but one Junior Ranger from Georgia knows her fossils. The youngster discovered a saber tooth fossil in Badlands National Park that scientists are calling "a find of high importance."

In the language of conservation biology, there is a term called “the Lazarus Syndrome.” It pertains to a species, written off as extinct, that later is found to exist. Today, ornithologists are debating and hoping that the near-mythical Ivory-billed woodpecker might qualify.

A new IUCN publication reports on the status of wild and conservation-herd bison, makes bison conservation recommendations, and stirs controversy over emotion-charged issues such as the possible "rebisoning" of large areas of former bison range.

The last time I visited Badlands National Park was back in 1963. I remember a twisty labyrinth of narrow canyons, spires, and geologic formations reminiscent of Bryce or Cedar Breaks, soft crumbly sedimentary rock that in many places erodes too quickly for plants to put down roots. Vistas that stretched from the high plateau along the north of the park out to the southern plains. Sagebrush, prairie dogs, and antelope

Seven years ago, governments around the world pledged to achieve a "significant reduction" in the ongoing loss of biodiversity by 2010. Unfortunately, the latest IUCN report says that goal will not be met, and that the wildlife crisis is greater than the world's economic crisis.

Americans overwhelmingly love bison as an iconic image of the West, but are largely clueless over the ecological plight these animals face, according to a national survey.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe might regain exclusive control of 133,000 acres of tribal land that was incorporated into Badlands National Park and is being jointly managed with the National Park Service. If the tribe gets its land back it will establish a major precedent.

Dozens of movies have depicted actors and actresses cavorting, romancing, running, hiding, fighting, and yes, even dying in national parks or places destined to become national parks. Here are ten of Traveler's favorite movies with a national park connection of some sort. Note that we don’t restrict the field to films shot on location in parks.