Neon-hued parrotfish. Graceful angelfish the size of dinner platters. Delicate sponges that sway in the currents. Coral communities teeming with colorful marine life. Our fascination with the oceans and their denizens has led Congress to include within the National Park System some of the nation’s most incredible and beautiful marine ecosystems. Ninety-five percent of Biscayne National Park, for instance, is underwater.
NPS sites in Hawaii are preparing for the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Felicia later today. Backcountry trails and campsites and other areas have been closed at two parks, and visitors should check on current conditions before planning a visit.
The effects of climate change have been visible for years in our national parks. Glaciers are disappearing faster than scientists had predicted even a few years ago. Native trees and animals are losing ground because changing temperature and weather patterns are making the availability of food, water and shelter less certain.
A hiker at Rocky Mountain National Park suffered a broken leg in a fall in the park's backcountry. He and rangers spent the night on a rocky slope above 12,000 feet before he was flown to a Denver hospital on Sunday afternoon.
The staff at Redwood National and State Parks has gone the extra mile to prepare for a hazard most visitors don't think about very often: a tsunami. The park is the first NPS area to earn TsunamiReady designation by the National Weather Service. Here's a quick tsunami primer.
Forty-five years after the first wilderness areas were designated in the United States, the Mesa Verde Wilderness area remains largely unknown to the public, even though most people in Cortez can see it every day.
What do you expect from the National Park System? How would you like to see the National Park Service manage the 391 parks? Those are at the same time simple and complex questions. Perhaps the obvious answer is that we want parks managed for people to enjoy. But from there the obvious quickly fades away. Do we want them managed for preservation, for the betterment of species that inhabit the parks, for their landscapes to persist immemorially?