The new federal minister responsible for Parks Canada has been told to create new national parks, national urban parks and national marine conservation areas. Steven Guilbeault got his marching orders in a Dec. 16 mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Saguaro National Park in Arizona is offering a number of ranger-guided hikes in February. A list of hikes is below. Call the park's visitor center at 520-733-5158 for updates the day of the program.

A potent winter storming bearing down on the East Coast had units of the National Park System from North Carolina to Massachusetts preparing Friday to close.

Mountain lions that roam about the Santa Monica Mountains in southern California typically tend to avoid residential areas, preferring instead chaparral and coastal sage scrub areas in and around Los Angeles, according to long-term studies by the National Park Service.