With a pleasing whoosh, the water from the acequia was released through a sluice gate at Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Antonio and trickled through a hand-dug irrigation ditch towards a demonstration field teeming with corn, peppers and squash.

National Park Service proposals to reduce, and even ban, air tours over four national parks are being fought by the Helicopter Association International, which has asked its members and supporters to file comments against the proposals.

Death Valley National Park covers much more acreage than just the valley itself. It’s the largest U.S. national park outside of Alaska at 3,422,024 acres. With a park that size, you probably aren’t going to see everything you want in the space of a day or a week, for that matter. But you can still see and do plenty, even if you have no more than three days.

The National Park Service has added eight sites to the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, which connects sites that provide education, interpretation and research related to the period of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Era (1861-1900) is one of the most fascinating and misunderstood periods in American History and includes stories of freedom, education and self-determination, according to the National Park Service.