Higher fees, possible new units to the National Park System, and talk of reviving the Bluffs Restaurant along the Blue Ridge Parkway are just some of the matters around the National Park System that caught our eye this week.

White-nose fungus in bats has officially crossed the National Park System from east to west, now having been detected at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

Oil and gas drilling sites less than a mile from Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado are proposed to go up for auction later this year, raising concerns over light and air pollution, as well as ecosystem impacts, energy exploration could generate for the park.

It was 50 years ago that the National Trails System was designated. Today there are 30 trails under that designation, and they range from the path followed by Lewis and Clark into history to the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Choose any one of the 19 National Historic Trails and you can walk, or paddle, into history.