Peregrine Falcons, once teetering on extinction, are regulars at Acadia National Park. Bald Eagles, also once feared to be ready to blink out, have rebounded incredibly and are highly visible in many national parks. During a week-long canoe trip in Yellowstone National Park last fall I was blown away by the birdlife. But how is the overall "state of birds" in America these days? Unfortunately, things aren't entirely as they appear.

Park officials have confirmed that a recent rockfall at Yosemite National Park was in fact the largest such documented event in the park more in than two decades. Part of a popular trail buried by the debris from the event remains closed.

Not even its remote location in eastern Nevada can protect Great Basin National Park from the pressures, demands, and impacts of urban areas. Proposed power plants threaten its air, and growing Las Vegas could impact the park's water resources.

The spectacular old-growth forest of the Congaree floodplain would have been lost forever had it not been for a grassroots campaign that achieved a highly implausible victory back in the 1970s. Veterans of the campaign gathered at Congaree National Park this past weekend to share memories of that long-ago struggle.