Unlike most volcanoes, that spit out their toxic gases near the summit, the volcano that is Yellowstone is mostly flat; there is no "top" to vent toxic gases. Instead, gases waft up from throughout the national park's thermal basins. Better monitoring of these gases would help geologists better understand the volcano beneath the surface.

It's been more than a half-century since the Beatles let the world know they get by with a little help from their friends. Certainly, that's true for national parks from coast to coast, which have been able to accomplish much with philanthropic dollars raised by friends groups. But what happens if those dollars vanish?

When the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-American war that was waged over the United States’ annexation of Texas, it contained an agreement that the Rio Grande River defined the international border between the United States and Mexico. However, this treaty also created the Chamizal dispute.

Cuando el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo de 1848 puso fin oficialmente a la guerra mexicano-estadounidense que se libró por la anexión de Texas por parte de los Estados Unidos, contenía un acuerdo de que el río Río Grande definía la frontera internacional entre los Estados Unidos y México. Sin embargo, este tratado también creó la disputa Chamizal.

Though the National Park Service is more than a century old, and oversees parks that interpret the country's rich diversity, the agency itself struggles to attract minorities to its workforce.

It's likely going to prove to be an interesting Fourth of July holiday weekend in the National Park System, with some parks closed and others bracing for crowds. Here's a look at where things stand at some National Park System destinations going into the long weekend.

Though some states are seeing spikes in Covid-19 cases, more parks are reopening access to the public. Death Valley National Park has reopened more campgrounds, Zion National Park plans to resume its shuttles this week, and Canyon Mouth Park at Little River Canyon National Preserve is back in business.

Some helicopter tours having been flying within 100 feet of the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle National Monument and are threatening the structural integrity of the ancient structure.

At a time when the oil and gas industry is sitting idle on nearly 10,000 drilling permits for public lands, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is preparing to offer more than 110,000 acres of public lands in Utah, some quite near national parks, for drilling.

An easing of coronavirus restrictions is leading to the reopening Saturday of the visitor center at Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, and next week the grounds of the John Muir National Historic Site in California will reopen to the public.

Too much ambition and too little financial transparency greatly hamstrung Yellowstone Forever in its fledgling years, and now the organization finds itself fighting for its life at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has been crippling for nonprofits that depend greatly on philanthropy.

Smudge pots weren't in sight when I visited Flamingo on the southern tip of Everglades National Park, but it was early spring and the mosquitoes hadn't quite worked themselves up to scourge strength. They are legendary when in full biting force, with rumors of cows and mules being killed by vicious, insatiable swarms of the bloodsuckers. And yet, the appeal of Flamingo to anglers and those fleeing winter's snows for a few days make it a popular destination.

Forty years ago, I read Mountains Without Handrails: Reflections on the National Parks by Joseph L. Sax, a law professor and astute observer and student of America’s National Park System. I knew few national parks then and wondered what such a provocative title might mean. Now, after 40 years of exploring and studying the parks, I reread Sax’s book to see if his reflections back then might be relevant today. I think they are.

When veterans retire from the military—whether voluntarily or from injury—it can be a difficult transition. Gone is the camaraderie that gave their lives structure and often lost is a sense of purpose. A partnership with the National Park Service is helping wounded warriors to heal and restore connections by giving them a mission underwater.

Big Cypress National Preserve doesn't have the same name attraction as its next door neighbor, and that's not a bad thing. Enter its realm and you might find one of the world's most unique orchids, a forest of "dwarf" trees hundreds of years old, and a wild kingdom of raucous birds and toothy reptiles.

"My first impression was that it looked like molten lava. Except it was molten ice. It had that same kind if pyroclastic flow to it," recalled Peter Christian of the day back in 2016 when he flew over a remote corner of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and saw a slurry of ice coursing rapidly downhill through a barren drainage.

On the sun- and surf-splashed north shore of Virgin Islands National Park, the operators of the Caneel Bay Resort had a handsome operation. Nightly rates quickly surged past $600 for a room in paradise, they were surrounded by a national park, and they owed the National Park Service nothing for that privilege.

Before I came to the Florida Everglades, I imagined only a province of swamps and sawgrass—a watery place, nearly submerged. So I am surprised to be crunching along a trail deep in a dry landscape that, to my untrained eye, resembles something like the Serengeti Plain. As far as I can see, an open field of shrubs and grasses is studded with towering slash pines that stand apart from each other, perforating the blue sky

Beaches, trails, and parking areas at Virgin Islands National Park reopened Monday in a partial move to return to normalcy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as the territorial governor relaxed his closure order.

RVing used to be so simple. You plan for a road trip, you pack your rig, and you go. But in our post-pandemic nation, we’ll have an added layer of RV etiquette basics to consider when camping in national parks. Common neighborly courtesies like respecting campsite boundaries and minimizing generator noise are still advisable. But now, all of us will have to go a step further to nurture neighborliness and reap the rewards of life after lockdown. As RV life ambassadors, here’s what we need to preach and practice from arrival to departure.