Haleakala National Park and other Hawaiian sites provide nesting habitat for the Hawaiian petrel, an endangered pelagic bird that faces many hazards, including the perilous flight that fledglings must make from nest to sea.

The National Park Service is turning to reality television with hopes the programs can boost visitor diversity in the parks.

While the potential exists for the National Park Service's preferred off-road vehicle plan for Cape Hatteras National Seashore to be detrimental to piping plovers, sea turtles, and seabeach amaranth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials believe the plan will be at least minimally helpful to all three in the long-run.

It seems not a week goes by without some dire issue being identified as a threat to the national parks. One week it might be funding woes, another week pollution, another diversity concerns, and then, of course, there's climate change.