A possible furnace malfunction at the St. Mary Visitor Center in Glacier National Park led to water damage when the center's sprinkler system was activated, forcing the temporary closure of the facility.

A recent article in the Traveler highlighted a report that describes the economic impact of NPS areas on "local communities, states and the nation." While some will quibble about the methodology used or the accuracy of the numbers, there's no question that parks are an important factor in the economy of local communities. I was reminded just how much that's the case during a recent visit to Glacier National Park.

As rare as a vacant bed in the Yosemite Valley can be during the high summer season, a decision by Yosemite National Park officials to reduce housing in the Curry Village area very possibly saved lives.

Plant yourself -- leaning into the wind, of course -- on the open prairie near South Pass City, Wyoming, and you can quickly envision the setting that faced Conestoga-riding emigrants more than a century ago in their exodus to the West Coast. Endless miles of sagebrush, the Wind River Range looming ever-present to the north, a boundless sky dotted here and there with distant rainstorms.