The requirement to keep dogs on a leash is observed by most—but not all—visitors to national parks. A recent incident in Great Smoky Mountains National Park involving a pit bull and a deer offers a vivid example of one reason for the regulation.

A federal proposal to add about 12,000 acres of historic ranchland in and near Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the National Register of Historic Places has many North Dakotans concerned about possible land-use constraints.

Congress authorized New Echota Marker in 1930, the NPS acquired it in 1933, and Congress abolished it on September 21, 1950. It’s a pity that so few have ever heard of this historic site, now a Georgia state park, because it commemorates a place and events that should not be forgotten.

The newly designated Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail will link three national parks, seven national forests, several major mountain ranges, and two border-to border national scenic trails. One day it will also be a key link in the coast-to-coast pathway that trail developers have been dreaming about.