How can you keep from running into a bear and an ugly situation in the backcountry of a national park? Check out this short video for some tips. Though produced by the National Park Service's Alaska branch, the tips can apply to any park where there are bears.

At Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, the National Park Service should welcome a discussion into a form of backcountry travel that, if properly managed, need not alter the decades-long experience of visiting these two magnificent parks, but rather enhance it for a small number of wilderness travelers.

A North Carolina man plans to begin an ambitious attempt to run the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway on August 9, and hopes to complete the 469-mile trip in only nine days. His purpose is to raise money for a camp that serves special needs kids and for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.

Bears in Yellowstone National Park and visitors who watch bears cost money, both in terms of the park's approach to bear management, and its approach to "bear jams" on the park's roads. And, interestingly, a study shows that a majority of Yellowstone visitors would pay as much $50 extra dollars in entrance fees to ensure the opportunity to see bears in the park.