The House Appropriations Committee has passed a funding bill for the Interior Department that contains a rider to allow uranium mining on 1 million acres surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

Dr. Stephen Leatherman, aka "Dr. Beach," has opined what many of us already knew; the Great Lakes beaches of the U.S. and Canada are hidden gems, and the ones at Sleeping Bear Dunes and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores are crown jewels.

A proposal concerning Fiscal Year 2012 funding for the Interior Department stands to do more than a little harm to the National Park Service's fiscal fitness, and also could theoretically degrade the watersheds that drain into the Colorado River as it runs through Grand Canyon National Park.

It likely will be the weekend before traffic can traverse Lassen Volcanic National Park, as deep snow continues to cover portions of the main road, according to park officials.