Pinnacles National Monument

What's in a name? Apparently a lot when the name includes "national park."

The birth of a chick earlier this year to a pair of nesting California condors was cause for celebration at Pinnacles National Monument, but scientists tracking the health of the young bird have bad news. Due to extremely high levels of lead in its blood, it's been necessary to evacuate the bird from its nest to a specialized facility for intensive treatment. Is lead ammunition the culprit?

There's good news in the effort to bring the California condor back from the brink of extinction: Biologists at Pinnacles National Monument have verified the first successful hatching of a condor egg in the park in over 100 years.

Two species of birds that hold tenuously to survival are expected to benefit from a partnership recently signed between the National Park Service and the Argentine Administracion de Parques Nacionales. Through the partnership, the United States and Argentina will continue to expand on previous work to benefit the future of the California condor and its slightly larger relative, the Andean condor.

A congressional effort to have Pinnacles National Monument redesignated as a "national park" is opposed by the National Park Service because the monument contains a limited array of resources.

Many of the visitors to Pinnacles National Monument in California hope for a glimpse of a rare California Condor in the wild. Thanks to the park's Artist in Residence program, they can also enjoy a beautiful stained glass depiction of a condor in flight.

The release of some of the rarest birds in the world for their first flights into the wild is scheduled for September 26, 2009, at Pinnacles National Monument. The public is invited to observe the release up to two California condors at the park Saturday morning.

There's a move afoot in Congress to have the name of Pinnacles National Monument changed to Pinnacles National Park.

Yellowstone National Park entered the new year shaking and rattling. Fortunately, there hasn’t been any real rolling just yet. But over at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Redoubt Volcano has been going through its own gyrations, and volcanologists suspect it just might erupt any time now. Against that backdrop, if you want to see volcanics in action, or signs thereof, the National Park System has many opportunities for you.