Browse Through the Traveler Content

Endangered Species Day, What Have We Lost, What Might We Lose In the National Parks?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on May 15, 2009 - 8:27am

For many going to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge is a town they pass en route to the park. Others spot the Pigeon River, or even spend a day rafting it during their stay. The pigeon that influenced these place names no longer darts through the skies nor perches in the forests. It's extinct.

Rocky Mountain National Park Crews Battling Bark Beetles With Insecticide

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on May 10, 2009 - 2:40am

To what lengths should national parks go to combat climate change? Do such efforts run contrary to the National Park Service's mission, to let natural processes run their course? And in some cases, are those efforts akin to turning back a flood with a rake?

NPCA Launching "Do Your Part!" Program To Encourage You to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on April 23, 2009 - 2:38am

Regardless of whether you believe climate change is being driven by human causes, efforts to see a reduction in greenhouse gases and other pollutants can only benefit society. To help you reduce your own "carbon footprint," the National Parks Conservation Association is launching a public awareness campaign.

Are Yellowstone National Park's Grizzlies Changing Denning Habits Due to Climate Change?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on April 13, 2009 - 3:12am

Are grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park altering their long winter's slumber due to a changing climate? Federal wildlife biologists think so, and want to take a closer look into this possibility.

NPCA: Climate Change Greatest Threat Facing the National Park System

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on April 7, 2009 - 3:43pm

When you think about threats to national parks, you can point to air pollution, water pollution, development on a park's boundaries, and genetic bottlenecks affecting a park's wildlife. But few people seem to think about climate change. Well, the National Parks Conservation Association wants you to start thinking about it.

Climate Change and Coral Bleaching: Changing the Seascape of Virgin Islands National Park

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on April 1, 2009 - 2:30am

Forget what you might have heard about polar bears being the first species to gain Endangered Species Act protection due to climate change. Two species of coral lay claim to that unfortunate distinction.

Lecture Series On Yellowstone Ecosystem and Climate Change On Tap

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on February 7, 2009 - 4:09am

A series of discussions on how climate change could impact the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is coming to Big Sky, Montana, in the weeks ahead.

Climate Change: Fact or Fiction?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on January 15, 2009 - 8:55am

Back in 1925 Glacier Bay National Monument was established, in part, to protect "a number of tidewater glaciers ... in a magnificent setting of lofty peaks ..." Well, as these photos show, those glaciers are slip-sliding away.

NRDC Calls For Endanagerd Species Act Protection for Whitebark Pine Tree

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 9, 2008 - 9:59am

While most often we hear about fish, bird, or animal species needing Endangered Species Act protection, today a group is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend that protection to a tree, the whitebark pine.

National Parks the World Over are Preparing for Climate Change

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on November 17, 2008 - 11:12am

Climate change is global. No one country or hemisphere has a monopoly on calmer or stormier weather, on drier or wetter climates, on higher or lower lake, sea, and river levels. While here in the United States the National Park Service is trying to confront the change, on the far side of the world another country is doing what it can to protect its parks from climate change.

Imagine the Impacts of Climate Change on the National Park System

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on October 12, 2008 - 3:47am

Imagine Yosemite National Park without Yosemite Fall. Or Glacier National Park without glaciers. Or Old Faithful becoming less faithful. Across the National Park System, the effects of climate change could be quite dramatic.

Mountain Pine Beetles Chewing into Grand Teton National Park Forests

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 8, 2008 - 3:01am

There are splashes of fall color showing up in Grand Teton National Park, but the reds and rusts are not associated with the changing of the seasons. Rather, they're a dire harbinger of what climate change could exact from the park's forests.

Is Climate Change Driving A New Forest Regimen in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 7, 2008 - 3:29am

As ecological drivers go, you wouldn't think an insect roughly the size of a rice grain would be that significant in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. And yet, the mountain pine beetle, aided by a warming climate, is poised to send quite a shudder through the ecosystem.

Climate Change and the National Parks

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on January 15, 2008 - 9:17am

Climate change slowly is changing the landscape of America’s national parks. As temperatures warm and storm traits alter, ecosystem change is anticipated and expected to carry a range of impacts.

Hurricane Ridge Road in Olympic National Park Closed Due to Storm Erosion

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 12, 2007 - 3:51pm

A week after a powerful storm pounded Olympic National Park erosion continues to eat away at the Hurricane Ridge Road. Park officials say the road will be closed this weekend while crews work on it.

Pacific Storm Shuts Down Most of Olympic National Park

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 4, 2007 - 5:04pm

If this keeps up, we're going to have to redefine the "100-year storm." For the second time in 13 months Olympic National Park has been hit hard by a Pacific storm.

Glen Canyon NRA Officials Thinking Of Digging For Water

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on November 6, 2007 - 1:49pm

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is one of the Southwest's premier boating areas, but in recent years the drought has really lowered Lake Powell. While that has opened up some fascinating canyon landscapes that had been underwater, the drought also has created some logistical problems for boaters.

Climate Change in Alaska Opens Window to the Past

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on July 14, 2007 - 8:17am

Warming temperatures are remaking the Alaskan landscape. Sea ice is shrinking, permafrost is melting, glaciers are retreating, polar bears are changing their habits. In Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the warming trend is opening a window into the past, as melting glaciers are revealing artifacts from both the somewhat recent past and prehistoric cultures.

Climate Change: What Implications Does it Carry for the Parks?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on July 11, 2007 - 5:21am

Whether you believe in climate change or global warming doesn't really matter these days. There is change ongoing with our climate. Evidence exists in melting icecaps, unusually potent storms, droughts, and warming temperatures in general. How these changes are affecting our national parks is a question that the National Parks Conservation Association explores in a special report.