Perhaps it was good weather, perhaps simply the lure of the mountains, but visitation to Rocky Mountain National Park last year reached 3.3 million, an increase of 6.6 percent over 2010 levels, according to park officials.

A team of elite mountaineers familiar with routes on Mount Rainier and avoiding avalanches headed on Thursday to look for two overdue parties in Mount Rainier National Park.

One of the largest cases of dolphin strandings recently occurred on Cape Cod, with nearly 60 common dolphins coming ashore on the backside of Cape Cod National Seashore and prompting an ambitious rescue effort by teh International Fund for Animal Welfare.