A Mississippi-based oil company has dropped plans to drill for oil just outside Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, a move heralded by the South Florida Wildlands Association that had challenged the drilling permit.

Have your heart set on some fresh peaches or apples from the orchards at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah this month? While there will be some to pick, a cold snap back in April has limited the output.

Passage of the Great American Outdoors Act has been hailed as one of the greatest conservation measures to come out of Congress in decades, as it will send $6.5 billion to the National Park Service to battle deferred maintenance in the National Park System. But now what? How will $1.3 billion a year be spent in the parks, and which parks will get a boost in tackling their maintenance issues?

While Yosemite and Rocky Mountain national parks this summer have temporarily gone to a reservation system to control visitor numbers, Acadia National Park later this fall will roll out its reservation system in a bid to better manage traffic in the park. And unlike the plans at Yosemite and Rocky Mountain, Acadia's plan is expected to be permanent.