Whoever takes the helm of the National Park Service under the Obama administration will find an agency that has fallen far short in its stewardship of cultural resources across the National Park System.

If you like to climb in Shenandoah National Park you might just want to pay attention to the park's work on updating its rock outcrop management plan, which includes climbing guidelines.

Acoustic monitoring reveals that Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve has one of the quietest soundscapes in America. Remote areas of the park have sound levels so low that they barely register on the recording equipment.

Lava Beds National Monument, which celebrates its 83rd birthday November 21, is a strange looking place bursting with fascinating stories. As if the largest collection of lava tubes and caves in the coterminous states weren’t enough to make this park very special, it’s also where Captain Jack and his warrior band fought an amazing battle against an attacking force ten times its size during the Modoc War of the early 1870s.