A 35-year-old North Carolina man is due in federal court on March 22 to face poaching charges in connection with the shooting of a bull elk in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

During its lengthy meeting in Fairbanks this week the Alaska Board of Game is expected to consider a proposal to extend a wolf protection buffer zone that is surrounded on three sides by Denali National Park and Preserve.

If you frequent national parks on a regular basis, you need a well-stocked personal library of park-related books. They're essential to plan for trips, and to place yourself in a national-park setting from the comfort of your armchair. What titles should you stock? In this checklist, the Traveler touches on a general reading list that will provide a sound backbone for your collection. Down the road we'll delve into region-specific lists.

How do you combat a tiny beetle that is killing acres and acres of lodgepole forest that long has served as a gorgeous backdrop to Mount Rushmore National Memorial? That's the puzzling question an interagency team of entomologists and foresters is trying to answer.