With around 30 inches of snow on the ground, it may not yet look like spring at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Nevertheless, the park is busy with preparations to reopen seasonal facilities, extend hours and resume shuttle service. No advance reservations are required to enter Bryce Canyon at any time, but park staff encourage planning ahead for the best experience during the park’s centennial year.

In the ongoing trend of air tour management plans for national parks being called shoddy and insufficient in their crafting, a lawsuit has been filed challenging tour plans for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods National Monument, and San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

The number of litigants involved in a battle over the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments has swelled with the addition of a number of conservation organizations opposed to any changes.

Glacier National Park, famous for its mountain goats and grizzly bears, holds a surprising number of Canada lynx and could prove to be a climate refuge for the cats, according to researchers.