Acquisition of 5 acres is moving the National Park Service closer to completion of the 65-mile-long Backbone Trail through Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California.

The United States has not cornered the market on national parks. While it did start the national park movement with Yellowstone back in 1872, many other countries have set aside many spectacular parks. Which has us wondering, which parks abroad are you hoping to visit?

Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, like Glacier National Park, will endure hotter summers, and less snowy winters, in the coming decades due to climate change, according to projections made by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.

Bats, their benefits to the landscape and their behaviors, will be the topic of discussion this Friday at Pipe Spring National Monument in Arizona.