Northern Virginia is a much more crowded place than it was during the Civil War. But Civil War historians, preservationists, and buffs, as well as National Park Service officials, are still flummoxed by Wal-Mart's wish to place a super center next to one of the most poignant battlefields of the Civil War.
If you didn't find time to drive up to Cedar Breaks National Monument this year, well, you have missed your opportunity for 2008. With winter closing in on Utah's high country, the roads leading to the colorful monument have been closed for the season.
The upcoming inauguration continues to attract a lot of attention, and a recent article in Traveler reported on some of the preparations for what could be a record crowd for such events. Plenty of work continues to take place behind the scenes, and somel of the government representatives who are training for the big day aren't even human.
The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument recently proclaimed by President Bush incorporates the USS Arizona Memorial and eight other historic sites in Hawaii, Alaska, and California closely associated with the Pacific Theater of Battle. Adding this Monument to the National Park System helps people appreciate the tremendous geographic scale and complexity of the war and its aftermath.
A decade ago, visitors at Petrified Forest National Park were stealing the park’s petrified wood at the rate of 12 tons a year. Warning signage, hefty fines, legal purchase options, and other countermeasures have done some good, but losses continue to mount.
This week’s quiz is about surviving – or even better, avoiding – dangerous situations in national parks. Answers are at the end. This is serious stuff, so you’re welcome to peek all you like.
National Park Service officials have finalized winter-use rules for Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and quickly drew condemnation for ignoring what's best for the parks' natural resources.
While most often we hear about fish, bird, or animal species needing Endangered Species Act protection, today a group is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend that protection to a tree, the whitebark pine.