In Dances With Wolves, Lt. John Dunbar requests a posting on "the frontier" because he "wants to see the frontier before it's gone." It's not too difficult to put Yellowstone National Park, between the months of December and April, as being on the last frontier of the Lower 48.While it would be relatively easy to maintain wheeled-access to Old Faithful year-round, with apparently few environmental consequences, should we shrink what little "frontier" we have left in the National Park System?

Once upon a time, when you entered a national park you collected a distinctive window sticker that you could attach to your windshield. While you can buy versions of these stickers today, wouldn't it be great if the National Park Service handed them out when you entered a park?

Several years ago we wrote “The Best National Park Trip,” an article that described the wonders of visiting Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon during a tour of the West. This is indeed a great trip that can be extended with visits to Lake Powell, Cedar Breaks, and other nearby units administered by the National Park Service.

We were on our second-floor balcony reading when we noticed someone below walk to the wooden railing separating the lodge grounds from the surrounding countryside. He pointed west toward the woods. Coming through the trees and into the small meadow were two bear cubs that commenced frolicking in the grass. They ran back and forth and one suddenly jumped and caught the side of a tree.