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Just eight wolves can be found at Isle Royale National Park, the lowest count ever tallied, and no new pups were brought into the population last year, another first that seemingly moves the population closer to extinction.

This fall has been a tough one for those who love the wolves of Yellowstone National Park, as more than a few of the predators have been killed outside the park by hunters. Wolf hunting and trapping also is an issue in the Midwest, and the controversy around that issue prompted writer Greg Breining to take a close look at how wolves and science intertwine. It's not always as neat as you might think

You can add the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees to the groups that are concerned about efforts by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop to dismantle many of the nation's environmental laws in the name of border security.

What’s better than a camping trip to Isle Royale National Park? How about a camping trip to Isle Royale with a renowned North Woods botanist?

At least 29 units of the National Park System offer "artist-in-residence" programs. Those accepted range from visual artists and photographer to sculptors, composers, and even writers. Here's a list of those parks and the application deadlines.

A decline in the moose population at Isle Royale National Park, along with inbreeding, are being blamed for the loss of two of the island's four wolf packs. Where once the island's wolf population had numbered more than 50 individuals, by the close of 2009 there were fewer than 20, researchers say.

There was a paper that zoomed around cyberspace a couple weeks ago, one that roamed far and wide, not unlike a young wolf seeking a territory of its own. It gathered speed as it was flicked around the Twittersphere because it focused on two subjects that captivate more than a few people -- national parks, and wolves.

For most, a national park vacation entails booking a room in a lodge or reserving a spot in a campground, arriving at the park and checking in, and then spending a number of days hiking, paddling, or traveling the park to view various sites, whether they focus on waterfalls, geysers, deep forests, museums, or cultural focal points. Here are some alternatives to that approach, some pricey, some not so.

How close did you pay attention to the landscape the last time you went for a hike in a national park? Did you notice the variety of trees or plants, the birds, the insects? Could you tell where there had been a fire or a flood? More subtly, could you see where the nutrient sinks in the ecosystem were? Most of us probably can't answer that last question, but researchers at Isle Royale National Park have uncovered some intriguing contributions to the park's biodiversity.

Most of us head to national parks to walk across the landscape, but for those skilled at diving, some treasures otherwise lost to history can be found. In the waters surrounding Isle Royale National Park, for instance, are a number of wrecks that date back to the late 1800s.

Change is under way in the Great Lakes, the source of 84 percent of North America’s fresh water and more than 20 percent of the world’s supply. It is a progressive sweeping change that threatens to greatly transform the ecosystems of these inland seas by warming their waters and supplanting native species with harmful invasives. And it is a change that ultimately may threaten the viability of the common loon and dozens of other birds that depend on the lakes.

The red-throated loon is the smallest, most widely distributed, and most distinctive of the world’s five loon species. Annually migrating from summer nesting sites in the Arctic reaches of North America and Eurasia to wintering grounds in the Lower 48, Mexico, Europe, and Asia, this bird can really move.