The Crater Lake National Park Science & Learning Center is accepting applications for the 2013 Artist-in-Residence program at the park. Application forms and more information are available online and are due by February 1, 2013.

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their family will officially light the National Christmas Tree on Thursday at the 90th annual holiday tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse in President’s Park.

Weather, which has hampered firefighters battling a wildfire in Rocky Mountain National Park, seemed to turn into an ally Monday as cooler temperatures and lighter winds settled over the fire.

The threat posed by the introduction of non-native giant snakes into the United States has become an increasingly large concern. The American Bird Conservancy (ABC is joining in the fight to ban importation of several species of such snakes with support of H.R. 511 –"To Prohibit the Importation of Various Injurious Species of Constrictor Snakes."