During the colonial days of the West Indies, building supplies were much in demand. Ingenious builders looked to the sea for some of their construction materials, and came away with a particularly good item, one that started out pliable but soon turned to rock. Or at least rock-like.

Quick, pick an ocean setting for next summer's national park vacation. Are you heading to the Northeast, the Northwest, or looking South or somewhere else for your destination?

The Center for Environmental Diversity has goaded the Fish & Wildlife Service into honoring its obligation to responsibly manage two rare and imperiled plants in the Virgin Islands.

Neon-hued parrotfish. Graceful angelfish the size of dinner platters. Delicate sponges that sway in the currents. Coral communities teeming with colorful marine life. Our fascination with the oceans and their denizens has led Congress to include within the National Park System some of the nation’s most incredible and beautiful marine ecosystems. Ninety-five percent of Biscayne National Park, for instance, is underwater.

This tree, which can be found growing in a few of our national parks, is one you’ll want to treat with respect. Its various parts are full of toxins that can irritate your skin, temporarily blind you, make you very sick, or even kill you.

Guys who holler “watch this!” just before they do something incredibly stupid aren’t the only jackasses in our national parks. We’ve got the real kind too, and where there are feral burros the habitat is degraded and native wildlife suffer. Cute though they may be, burros are unwelcome in our national parks.

Floating face down in the Caribbean, with snorkel clenched in your mouth, lacks the structure, the regimentation, of observing the natural world in the way we’ve grown up to accept while walking through a forest, strolling through a meadow, or hiking up a mountain. Clouds of neon blue tangs drift by while black-and-yellow striped sergeant majors flit about, lacking the tangs’ regimented approach to life in the ocean.

Mango trees, lime trees, and one of the best preserved ruins of a sugar plantation in Virgin Islands National Park are among the payoffs of the Reef Bay Trail.

For roughly 47 cents on the dollar, Virgin Islands National Park is growing by more than 400 acres thanks to the efforts of the Trust for Public Land.

Forget what you might have heard about polar bears being the first species to gain Endangered Species Act protection due to climate change. Two species of coral lay claim to that unfortunate distinction.

Damage surveys and cleanup work are underway at Virgin Islands National Park after Hurricane Omar passed thorough the islands on Thursday. It appears that main park facilities on St. John escaped a major hit.

Valley Forge National Historical Park isn't the only unit of the national park system threatened by development on private lands that fall within its borders. Far from it. The latest case involves Virgin Islands National Park, where development on roughly 1,400 privately owned acres within the park's borders is harming the park's resources.

We've heard lots about how bountiful the National Park Service's 2008 budget is thanks to the Bush administration. Well, don't let that talk make you think all is great across the park system.