A handful of shiny, new hybrid Ford Escapes will soon be tooling about the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The Ahwahnee's 1943-1945 stint as the United States Naval Special Hospital was certainly one of the most interesting episodes in its long and storied history.

While the superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve says the final management plan for the "Addition" lands within the preserve "provides for strong natural and cultural resource protection," the plan itself states that the preferred alternative is likely to adversely affect endangered Florida panthers.