When a single F-35 fighter for the Air Force -- just one -- costs in the neighborhood of $100 million, and when the helmet for the pilot of that fighter costs $400,000, is it too much to ask for better funding for America's greatest idea?

There are, in just about every nook and cranny of the National Park System, wonders to behold. From glacier-veiled mountains and sizzling mudpots to underground lakes and rare artifacts of the nation's founding history, the park system is an invaluable trove of U.S. history and prehistory set against majestic, soaring landscapes. These incalculable treasures are what most come to mind when the centennial of the National Park Service is broached.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop got it wrong when he titled his revision of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund the ‘‘Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation Act," which he notes could be called the "PARC Act" for short. Judging from its provisions -- fortunately still in draft -- it would be more accurate to title it "Drilling The Continental Shelf And Ignoring The Federal Domain Act."

There has been lots of discussion and debate on the Traveler in recent months over the size of the National Park System as well as the propriety of some of the units in that system. Most recently, a reader took issue with a piece looking at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site that questioned what the goal of the historic site really was.