In the wake of the uproar over hunting brown bears in Katmai National Preserve, does anyone care that Cape Cod National Seashore officials have cleared the way for pheasant or turkey hunts? Or is it only hunts involving charismatic mega-fauna that draw ire?

I grew up in New Jersey, so I have no qualms about questioning the efforts by the Garden State's congressional delegation to force the National Park Service to add a waterfall to its collection of sites. This is just the latest instance of politicians simply looking to bring the Park Service brand closer to home for economic benefits.

If nothing else, last week's Leadership Summit on Partnership and Philanthropy hosted by the National Park Foundation demonstrated that some major corporations want to support the national parks. The question that lingers, though, is to what extent?

Annually, on the third weekend of October, thousands of spectators watch over the course of the day as hundreds of BASE jumpers leap from the top of New River Gorge Bridge with the hope their parachutes take them safely to the river's shore, 876 feet below.