This is one thorny job. Beginning October 15 and continuing through the end of December, a contractor will be working along the Pinto Basin Road in Joshua Tree National Park to salvage up to 800 cholla plants prior to a road straightening project slated to begin in 2013

Kilroy? Not likely, as his graffiti rose to fame during World War II. Nevertheless, present-day graffiti artists are finding the Civil War cannons at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky irresistable for their scribblings.

Visitors to Mesa Verde National Park this weekend will get a bonus if they stop by the Far View Lodge, where painter Jan Wright will be exhibiting water colors of the park she did while serving as Mesa Verde's artist-in-residence.

An estate house on the grounds of Valley Forge National Historical Park that dates to the 1700s will be open to private parties under a proposal the Park Service is seeking comments on.