A trigger-happy camper, possibly fueled by alcohol, shot another man in an Oregon campground after hearing rustling in the brush. The incident, while not occurring in a national park setting, could fuel arguments of those opposed to the legalization of carrying concealed weapons in national parks.

A wheelchair accessible 900-foot section of the Appalachian Trail recently opened along the Ottauquechee River near Killington, Vermont. That makes the fourth section of the AT designed for accessibility. A fifth is under construction near West Point.

One of the must-do national park backcountry treks in the West is the circumnavigation of Mount Rainier via the Wonderland Trail. Storm damage in recent years has officials at Mount Rainier National Park proposing to reroute part of that trail, and are interested in your thoughts.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s vice presidential nomination has put Alaska in the national spotlight, so let’s orient this week’s quiz to the national parks of The Last Frontier. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you write “Alaska’s state fish is the Oncorhynchus tshawytscha” 100 times on the whiteboard.