More than four decades after a large swath of Big Bend National Park was identified as potential wilderness, there's a grassroots effort under way to convince Congress that now is the time to transform it into official wilderness.

Beginning On Tuesday you'll need to pay an entrance fee or show an annual pass to get into Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi and Louisiana.

While two river guides, armed with a UV flashlight, searched the beach for scorpions, I wandered in the other direction down the shoreline of the Colorado River to stare into the night sky at the Milky Way and its surrounding twinkling diamonds of light.

The National Park Foundation has launched its ParkVentures initiative within the organization’s Outdoor Exploration program. ParkVentures supports programs and activities that help people create and strengthen life-long relationships with national parks, with a focus on communities that have been historically excluded from parks and may not feel a sense of belonging in the outdoors.