Congressional hearings often are about as interesting as the proverbial paint drying on walls, but on Tuesday the question of overcrowding in the National Park System will be dissected by a House subcommittee and the discussion could prove illuminating at times.

Environmental Protection Agency officials are recommending that the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska be protected from becoming a disposal site for wastes associated with the proposed Pebble Mine that, if approved, would lie at the headwaters of two of the largest tributaries of Bristol Bay, and is directly between Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Katmai National Park and Preserve.

I didn’t know it at the time, but our family vacation to Acadia National Park in the 1960s sent me on a path that would develop into a career that truly blended passion and curiosity with determination to spread the word about national parks.

Forillon National Park is getting a $9.8-million ($7.4-million USD) funding boost to restore and present the heritage houses of Grande-Grave’s expropriated families — an iconic sector of the Quebec park.