“Running on empty” unfortunately is a very apt description of the Colorado River Basin, which long has had its water overcommitted. Today, the vast watershed that stretches from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California and helps nourish some 30 million residents in the Southwest and Mexico is mired in a long-running drought that threatens to dramatically recast the already-arid region.

The annual reduction of bison from Yellowstone National Park has ended, with an estimated 600 of the iconic animals removed from the park's herds via hunting or culling.

In the summer of 2005 a killer whale calf was found dead in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, and the discovery led to an unusual opportunity. Very few complete killer whale skeletons are known to be on display anywhere in the country, and now, after an impressive cooperative effort, the articulated skeleton has gone on public display near the park.

Storm damage to a footbridge that crosses Ramsey Prong in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will force closure of the Ramsey Cascades Trail into late April.