Archive List

Singer Sheryl Crow to Help Mark Lighting of National Christmas Tree

Grammy-award winner Sheryl Crow is among the artists who will help kick off the holiday season when the National Christmas Tree is lit on December 3.

Wind Cave National Park Overhauling Visitor Center

They're not particularly glamorous, but the renovations under way to the visitor center at Wind Cave National Park will provide utility efficiencies, enhance fire protection, and protect the park's museum collections with better climate control.

Pay Attention: Rules Are Changing For Getting Backpacking Permits at Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park long has run its backpacking permit operation with a four-month lead time. In other words, you could walk into the backcountry office on February 1 and ask for a permit for a date in June and receive it. Well, the rules are changing friends.

Thanksgiving in the National Parks: You Don't Have To Look Far For a Feast

For some people, Thanksgiving means a full belly and an afternoon on the couch watching football. For me, Thanksgiving means a full belly and a hike in the fresh autumn air of a national park.

Missing Hunter Found Alive in Big Cypress National Preserve

A deer hunter who survived four days in the snake- and alligator-infested sloughs of Big Cypress National Preserve by drinking swamp water and eating a catfish was found in relatively good condition Friday, officials said.

Group Asks Public To Support Removal Of Trout From Some Sequoia, Kings Canyon National Park Lakes

Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks officials want to remove non-native trout from some lakes that naturally were fishless in a bid to save a yellow-legged frog. Now a group says trout should be removed from all lakes in the two parks that originally were fishless.

Slide Show Demonstrates Ida's Power at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

As they say, a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Proof can be found in this slide show that captures the power of Tropical Storm Ida at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Storm Damage Update for Gulf Islands and Assateague Island National Seashores

The coastal storm dubbed Ida may have been a late bloomer, but the November storm left a mess at several parks from the Gulf Coast to the mid-Atlantic. Here's an update on the status of two parks: Gulf Islands National Seashore and Assateague Island National Seashore.

Rare Ansel Adams Print of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Acquired By Knoxville Art Museum

A rare shot of Great Smoky Mountains National Park taken by Ansel Adams shortly after World War II has been acquired by a Knoxville, Tennessee, museum.

Yellowstone National Park Officials Release Development Vision For Tower-Roosevelt

Tower-Roosevelt might be viewed as one of the sleepier areas of Yellowstone National Park, but it's one rich in beauty and history and, since the late 1990s, has become somewhat of a magnet for wildlife viewers anxious to spot wolves. In developing a vision for the area, park officials are trying to contain development, although some argue they are not entirely succeeding.

Land Acquisition Expands Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area by 91+ Acres

A long-desired parcel of land finally has become part of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area thanks to a willing seller anxious to see the land preserved in its natural state and the intervention of The Nature Conservancy.

Mystery Plant Revealed: The “Tree from Hell” is the Tree-of-Heaven

Did you correctly identify the tree of heaven as the “mystery plant” of yesterday’s quiz?

Funding Will Help Repair Historic Gun Batteries at Gateway National Recreation Area's Sandy Hook Unit

Congress has provided $800,000 for the National Park Service to have repairs and restoration done to the historic gun batteries in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, according to U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone.

Search Now In Its Third Day for Missing Hunter At Big Cypress National Preserve

Searchers headed out for a third day Thursday morning to look for a 30-year-old hunter who walked away from his camp Monday in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.

Mystery Plant: This “Tree from Hell” Smells Like Rancid Peanut Butter

This tree is an Asian import that grows fast, spreads fast, damages ecosystems and crop land, and is very tough to eradicate. It stinks, too.

Sunset and Moonlight Hikes and Talks at Saguaro National Park

Late fall is a great time for outdoor activities at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, and if you're in that area and want to work off some Thanksgiving dinner calories, the park is offering some special sunset and moonlight hikes and programs in late November and early December.

Mystery Spot Revealed: You’ll Find It At the Bottom of the Grand Canyon

Were you able to solve yesterday’s mystery spot quiz?

Search Under Way For Missing Hunter In Big Cypress National Preserve

An intensive search is under way in Big Cypress National Preserve for a hunter who walked away from his camp and hasn't been seen since.

This Time, the SPOT Alert Was Real, Leading Grand Canyon National Park Rangers to Man With Broken Leg

This time the signal from SPOT really was sent seeking aid with a medical emergency, alerting Grand Canyon National Park rangers to a man with a fractured leg deep in the canyon.

House Committee Asked to Support Castle Nugent National Historic Site in the Virgin Islands

Congress is being urged to take one of the longest-operating cattle ranches in the Virgin Islands and add it to the National Park System as a national historic site.

National Park Foundation Helps Fund Eradication of Russian-Olive in Utah

Russian-olive can be an interesting addition to your landscape, with its dense coat of silvery leaves, bright yellow flowers, and relatively compact stature. But it also is a non-native tree that can overwhelm native vegetation, hog water, and disrupt nutrient cycles. In Utah, the National Park Foundation is helping combat this invasive by providing funding to a coalition trying to eradicate Russian-olive from public lands in the southern part of the state.

Is There A Turf Battle Brewing Between National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service Over Oregon Caves NM Expansion?

A turf battle could be brewing between the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service over how best to manage a proposed expansion to Oregon Caves National Monument, a move that would increase the monument's footprint almost tenfold by acquiring land within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

Reader Participation Day: Where is Your Favorite National Park Campground?

Is there one particular national park campground you like to return to again and again and again?

National Park Mystery Spot: A Jenny May Take you There

Lots of very tired people have been very happy to arrive at this place. Can you identify it with just a few clues?

National Park Service Opposes Redesignation Of Pinnacles National Monument as a National Park

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.

Yet Another November Storm Wallops Olympic National Park

A wet, windy storm pounded Olympic National Park on Tuesday, leaving behind roads closed by downed trees, floodwaters, and heavy snow.

Lawsuit Aims to Halt Uranium Mine Near Grand Canyon National Park

A group has gone to court to halt the development of a uranium mine within 10 miles of Grand Canyon National Park. Filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Sierra Club, the lawsuit claims the U.S. Bureau of Land Management failed to update environmental reviews and mining plans before approving the project.

Special Programs in Two Parks Relive Holidays on the Frontier and in the Backcountry

What are you doing the Saturday after Thanksgiving? Two NPS areas offer a chance to skip the mall and experience the holiday season on the frontier and in the backcountry through special programs. These "frontier" and "backcountry" sites are in locations that might surprise you: South Carolina and New York.

Forest Service Open to Allowing Mountain Bikes on Continental Divide Trail, But What About Park Service?

Along its 3,100 miles that wind from the Canadian border down to Mexico, the Continental Divide Trail is one of the most rugged, and in parts one of the most visually spectacular, hiking trails in the country. Now the U.S. Forest Service says the route could be opened in places to mountain bikes, which raises a question of possible impacts to national parks.

Trail Repairs and Roof Work Among Recovery Act Projects At Grand Canyon National Park

An influx of federal dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is helping Grand Canyon National Park crews repair trails and put new roofs on aging structures.