Katmai National Park and Preserve

Though funding has not yet been identified, the National Park Service is proposing to build a bridge and boardwalk across the Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve that could cost upwards of $7.4 million.

Denali National Park and Preserve seems to be quite popular this August with congressional staffers, though a number of other parks also are destinations for politicians and their staff during the August recess.

National Park Service officials are reviewing their sport hunting guidelines for Katmai National Preserve, where some have compared hunting brown bears to shooting fish in a barrel.

Four years ago we brought you a video that touched more than a few nerves. The subject was hunting brown bears in Katmai National Preserve and raised the question of whether it was really sporting or ethical. While the resulting uproar died down, it's creeping up again as Park Service officials seek public comment on a proposal to allow two sport-hunting guide businesses to operate in the preserve.

"Flight following" technology, which can help dispatchers keep an eye on the whereabouts of aircraft, is being required aboard all National Park Service aircraft, or any aircraft carrying Park Service personnel, in Alaska, and soon could be required throughout the National Park System.

Perhaps the biggest stage for bears in the National Park System these days is Brooks Camp at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, where July is a great month for viewing bears fishing the Brooks River there.

Have you ever wondered what's real, and what's not, in those reality TV shows that take you into the backcountry to explore survival? Well, read on.

The National Park Service is currently accepting applications for research fellowships in national parks and preserves in Alaska.

What were the top stories across the National Park System in 2010? There were more than a few, ranging from the tragic loss of three Katmai National Park and Preserve employees to a small-plane crash to the ongoing controversy over whether birds, turtles and off-road vehicles can co-exist at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Let's take a look back through the year at some of the stories.

Despite its remote location in southern Alaska, Katmai National Park and Preserve packs a surprising economic clout for the state, generating nearly $40 million a year, according to a study.

Wreckage from a plane that went missing over Katmai National Park and Preserve in August was spotted Tuesday on the park's northern coast. Park Service officials said there was no indication that its four occupants survived the crash.

Nearly a month has passed since a single-wing float plane with four on board vanished over Katmai National Park and Preserve. While the official search has been scaled back, private efforts are continuing to locate the aircraft.

After two weeks of searching without spotting a clue, National Park Service officials on Friday announced that they were scaling back efforts in the hunt across massive Katmai National Park and Preserve for a lost plane and its four occupants.

Favorable weather again greeted searchers Thursday as they headed off into the skies over Katmai National Park and Preserve, anxious to find any sign of a plane that went missing nearly two weeks ago.

A mixed bag of weather Tuesday limited the unrelenting search in Katmai National Park and Preserve for a missing plane and its four occupants, according to National Park Service personnel.

Alaska's latest political upstart, Joe Miller, wants to go Wyoming Gov. David Freudenthal one better. While Governor Freudenthal had threatened to sell state lands within Grand Teton National Park to the highest bidder, Mr. Miller wants the federal government to turn over all national parks to the Alaskan government.

Though good weather returned to Katmai National Park and Preserve on Monday, searchers again failed to detect any trace of a single-engine plane that vanished nine days ago on a flight to retrieve a work crew from a remote shore.

Shifting weather conditions -- from good to bad to good again -- have hampered search efforts for a plane missing for more than a week over Katmai National Park and Preserve.

An approaching low front that was spreading clouds and rain across Katmai National Park and Preserve was hampering search efforts Friday for a missing plane and its four occupants.

Searchers returned to the skies over Katmai National Park and Preserve on Thursday as the hunt for a missing plane and its four occupants moved into its sixth day.

As searchers continued to come up empty in their effort to find a plane with four occupants aboard that vanished on a flight from Katmai National Park and Preserve, officials Wednesday reoriented the searching to a more typical grid pattern.

To get a great idea of how many flights have been made, and what paths those flights took, in the ongoing search for a missing plane over Katmai National Park and Preserve, the National Park Service has posted some maps.

Crews headed out for their fourth day of searching Tuesday for a small plane with four aboard that failed to return from a remote shore in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Searchers looking for a missing plane with four occupants in Katmai National Park and Preserve focused Monday on a series of river valleys that drain down into Kamishak Bay.

A search for a backpacker from Germany who vanished when he tried to retrieve his hiking boots from the Lethe River has been suspended for lack of clues, according to Katmai National Park and Preserve officials.

A search continued Monday in Katmai National Park and Preserve for a German hiker who vanished from his party in the backcountry.

Every now and then a project proposed by the National Park Service stands out. That certainly seems to be the case of the proposal from Katmai National Park and Preserve to replace a plywood box long used as the backcountry patrol cabin on the coast of Shelikof Strait with a more weather-proof and comfortable facility.

Katmai National Park and Preserve is a classic example of an Alaskan park—beautiful, remote and limited development. When high winds caused several accidents and stranded tourists, the staff came to the rescue in more ways than one.

Two recent bear incidents in national parks in Alaska should send a message to all visitors that they have to be particularly vigilant when traveling in bear country.