If you've ever been to Yellowstone National Park, you know that it is well-deserving of its reputation as an open-air zoo thanks to all the bison, elk, bears, wolves, coyotes, moose, and bird life to be seen. But don't sell neighboring Grand Teton National Park short when it comes to viewing wildlife.

Spring can be prime season in some parks for canoeing, kayaking and other types of boating. Water levels are often higher in rivers from either spring rains and/or snow melt, but when combined with ignorance or complacency, too much water can present a serious problem. Two visitors at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area recently learned that lesson the hard way.

Any NPS area that has very many trees will occasionally face a dilemma: what to do with the wood that results from activities such as hazardous tree removal, wildland fire fuel reduction and similar work? Yellowstone National Park has one solution—firewood permits.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of officially designated wilderness. Boundary adjustments that will preserve cultural and ecological resources, not to mention scenery. Authorization to create the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.