The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service have confirmed plague as the cause of a prairie dog die off in Badlands National Park, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and the greater Conata-Badlands ecosystem, all in South Dakota based on a test result received 5/31.

A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over cattle that leave forest lands to enter Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico. Brought by three environmental groups, the lawsuit alleges the agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by allowing livestock to illegally graze in the preserve.

The gorgeous yellow brick train depot with an ugly past sits alone on Remembrance Way in Natchitoches waiting for the chance to tell its story. It’s a disturbing story of separate entrances, separate waiting rooms and separate washrooms. But it’s also an inspiring story of people fleeing the segregated South for better opportunities.

An early summer heat wave will bring dangerously hot temperatures this week to some Southwestern units of the National Park System, including Death Valley National Park, which could see temperatures flirting with 122° Fahrenheit by Thursday.