Possible problems with the roof of the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park have prompted the National Park Service to close the venerable hotel in December to conduct a "comprehensive" assessment of the hotel's condition.

Death Valley National Park officials discovered nearly a dozen dead burros and suspect a toxic algal bloom was the cause.

Funding, often a troublesome component of implementing plans for managing the National Park System, likely will slow full implementation of an ambitious visitor use management plan crafted for the popular Virginia Triple Crown segment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

A coalition of local, statewide, and national conservation and environmental justice organizations has established the National Wilderness Coalition (NWC) in Washington, DC. The NWC intends to reinvigorate "a diverse and powerful wilderness movement;" it is made up of organizations who have come together to build political power and advance wilderness legislation, the group said in a release.