Isle Royale National Park

It's been a very long winter for parts of the country, and some national parks are facing some extra challenges in getting ready for the upcoming summer season. Few parks, however, have had to call on the Coast Guard for help from an icebreaker as part of their summer reopening.

A straight-forward design, some good carpenters, and visitors to Isle Royale National Park now can have a roof over their heads while staying at the Windigo end of the island in Lake Superior.

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.

A Grand Canyon National Park ranger, one who you might see dangling from a helicopter to help an injured visitor, has been honored as the National Park Service's top ranger.

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

The Ranger III, the National Park Service ship that brings visitors to Isle Royale National Park, has been outfitted with a water ballast treatment system that is designed to prevent invasive species from hitching a ride.

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.

Wolf numbers at Isle Royale National Park -- 9 -- are the lowest ever counted since annual observations of wolves and moose on the Lake Superior island began in 1958, raising concerns that the predators might soon be gone from the park.

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.

Inbreeding, gender woes, and even climate change could be conspiring to doom the future of Isle Royale National Park's wolf population.

A recent visit to Isle Royale National Park by the Niagara, a historically accurate reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victorious 1813 flagship, included an unwelcome surprise. Despite efforts to prevent such problems, the ship was harboring some dangerous stowaways.

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.

What's in a number? When it reflects visitation to national parks, it's not always as obvious as it might seem.

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.

There was a news event earlier this week that seemed to sail under the radar, but it's something to keep an eye on. A large coalition of groups has come together to lobby for the waters that flow through Everglades National Park, the parks and lakeshores that dot the Great Lakes and touch the Chesapeake Bay, as well as many other watery ecosystems across the country.

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.

Some of the least-known resources of the National Park System are the cultural and natural resources that lie below the waters within the boundaries of our park areas. While not as mainstream as activities such as camping and hiking, diving and snorkeling are increasingly popular ways to enjoy and be inspired by these resources.

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.

There's still at least a month of great summer weather to be enjoyed before any thoughts of fall or winter will sneak into your mind. And if you're looking for a national park getaway, here are some deals and packages being offered around the National Park System. Some expire right around Labor Day, some run later into the year.

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.

Fishing in waters of Apostle Islands and Pictured Rocks national lakeshores is going to be a bit more difficult this year, as emergency restrictions are being implemented in an effort to prevent the spread of a deadly fish virus.