Firefighters on the 5,000-acre Horse Pasture Fire at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota on Sunday received aid from light rain.

Bayou country is a hard place to live sometimes. It’s home to tough survivors. Locals in beat-up pickup trucks roar past me up highway 69/285, the Big Thicket National Preserve Byway, as I turn off at the visitor center. I’m looking for just that kind of adaptability to harsh conditions. Specifically, I have come to find Big Thicket’s carnivorous plants. More generally, I want to learn how life survives here. Because, as I look around, the Thicket seems undaunted by the recent storms.

Dozens of firefighters on Friday were battling flames in Big Bend and Theodore Roosevelt national parks, marking a somewhat early start to the wildfire season.

National Park Service funding would improve under President Joe Biden's fiscal year 2022 discretionary budget request released Friday, and the administration also is seeking money to address climate change and reduce wildfire threats.