Stop by Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts any weekend in January and you'll be able to join a guided tour to learn more about the early history of the country's industrialization.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, citing the country's continuing economic doldrums, has selected 17 days this year when entrance to all units of the National Park System will be free.

A conservation group in Florida wants National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis to reject the preferred off-road vehicle plan for the Addition lands in Big Cypress National Preserve. In a lengthy letter the South Florida Wilderness Association urges the director to "take a step that will truly fulfill the lofty language of the Organic Act of 1916" by setting aside more of the landscape for wilderness designation.

A mention of Death Valley National Park doesn't conjure up images of snow-capped mountains for most of us, and even the first words you read on the park website—"Hottest, Driest, Lowest"—don't sound much like winter. That makes the park scene on January 3, 2011, a bit out of the ordinary.