I don't know of anyone who is happy about the current economic situation, but while we're waiting for a turn-around, here's a question to ponder: Can a bad economy ever be good for parks? Here's how the Great Depression helped save the Yorktown Battlefield from private development.

When you work the visitor center’s information desk on a slow day, you can strike up conversations with walk-ins. Visitors will often tell you interesting things about themselves. And once in a while they will positively astound you.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument offers a prime example of re-imaging in NPS context. Custer’s Last Stand occurred at this place, but so did the last stand of the Plains Indians. In 1991, a landmark redesignation acknowledged that the battlefield has a duel identity. More recently, an Indian Memorial has helped to re-image the place as hallowed ground for Indians as well as whites.

Would you like an up close and personal view of the big lava flow that’s making its way into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park? You’ll need to make a long trek over dangerous, unmarked terrain. Check with park officials first.