The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service have confirmed plague as the cause of a prairie dog die off in Badlands National Park, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and the greater Conata-Badlands ecosystem, all in South Dakota based on a test result received 5/31.

A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over cattle that leave forest lands to enter Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico. Brought by three environmental groups, the lawsuit alleges the agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by allowing livestock to illegally graze in the preserve.

Camp Nelson National Monument and Mammoth Cave National Park will commemorate Juneteenth during a special ceremony on Saturday, June 22, at 1 p.m. CDT.

An early summer heat wave will bring dangerously hot temperatures this week to some Southwestern units of the National Park System, including Death Valley National Park, which could see temperatures flirting with 122° Fahrenheit by Thursday.