I grew up in New Jersey, so I have no qualms about questioning the efforts by the Garden State's congressional delegation to force the National Park Service to add a waterfall to its collection of sites. This is just the latest instance of politicians simply looking to bring the Park Service brand closer to home for economic benefits.

If nothing else, last week's Leadership Summit on Partnership and Philanthropy hosted by the National Park Foundation demonstrated that some major corporations want to support the national parks. The question that lingers, though, is to what extent?

Annually, on the third weekend of October, thousands of spectators watch over the course of the day as hundreds of BASE jumpers leap from the top of New River Gorge Bridge with the hope their parachutes take them safely to the river's shore, 876 feet below.

Even though parts of the country are unseasonably warm this Fall, the end of the season for many lodges across the national park system isn't too far off. With that in mind, the folks who run the lodges in Shenandoah National Park are offering a deal for much of the month of November.