A section of a dock thought to have drifted from Japan following the March 2011 tsunami has come ashore along the coast of Olympic National Park, and officials are working on a plan to remove it.

While Interior Department officials publicly refuse to discuss how failure to avert the "fiscal cliff" might impact national park operations, internally they're telling National Park Service staff that nothing should change in the short term.

Some fun programs, for young and old, are scheduled for the last week of the year at Rocky Mountain National Parks. Kids can gain outdoor lore from rangers, or join their families on a snowshoe hike.

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War continues in 2013, and a series of free lectures at Gettysburg National Military Park will explore some interesting topics. Among the subjects: Separating fact and legend concerning Pickett's Charge and Hollywood vs. history in the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as told in the 1989 film Glory.