Images of volunteers filling sandbags in a race against rising waters have unfortunately become commonplace this year, in locations from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. You don't normally expect to see such scenes in the desert Southwest, but they were repeated last week in Big Bend National Park.

To encourage eco-friendly operations, the National Park Service presents Environmental Achievement Awards each year to parks and concession companies that have excelled in incorporating high environmental standards into their operations. The 2007 awards were presented to Blue Ridge Parkway, Yosemite National Park, Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, and Xanterra Parks & Resorts.

Officials at Big Bend National Park in Texas want to know what you think of a plan to develop a multi-use trail backcountry trail, one whose primary mission would be to accommodate mountain bikers.

In the last week, more than $3 million in donations and grants have been announced to help Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Big Bend national parks with a wide range of projects, from habitat restoration to trails work.

Rangers at Big Bend National Park have recovered the bodies of three Mexican nationals who illegally entered the United States and tried to make their way across the park’s desert terrain in searing summer heat. Officials suspect there may have been other fatalities.

Big Bend National Park celebrated its 64th birthday June 12. More than just a marvel of biodiversity, this remote and scenic park offers a wide range of recreational choices. To get the most from your visit you’ll need to do some homework, time your visit wisely, make some prior arrangements, and be prepared for changing conditions.

Big Bend National Park is remote and dry – not exactly a place that most people think of right away when they plan a vacation. But the desert is full of interesting things, some of them so small that they might escape notice. Take, for example, the ghostly Texas banded gecko.

The debate over whether the National Park Service should be allowed to buy the Christmas Mountains for an addition to Big Bend National Park should not be dominated by the personality and rigid mindset of pro-gun Texas land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. So says the Dallas Morning News.

Better late than never? Well, it might be too late for the National Park Service, which has reversed itself on showing interest in adding more than 9,000 acres of land owned by the state of Texas to Big Bend National Park.

Among the 201 projects "certified" to meet the criteria for celebrating the National Park Service's centennial in 2016 is one to establish a dual-use, hiking and mountain biking trail in Big Bend National Park in Texas. What seems odd, though, is that this project made the list at a time when the Park Service is in the middle of a five-year study examining mountain bike use in the park system.