News that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is requiring you, beginning today, to purchase a "parking tag" if you plan to pull over for longer than 15 minutes to explore the park is somewhat controversial in some circles. If you’ve purchased an annual pass to the parks, or to Great Smoky, or have a senior pass or a military pass, should you have to pay another fee to get out and enjoy the park?

As the National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration roll out air tour management plans for parks in the West, critics say the agencies failed to follow the National Environmental Policy Act by not conducting environmental studies in developing the plans. Should the agencies be required to do so?

It's no secret, it's constantly getting a bit more expensive to stay in a lodge inside a national park. But is the experience also rising, or is it not keeping track with the cost?

Come the end of the year, the National Parks Traveler will be releasing its 3rd Annual Threatened and Endangered Parks package of stories that examine parts of the National Park System where the original motivations for protecting some units are in danger.