A potent winter storming bearing down on the East Coast had units of the National Park System from North Carolina to Massachusetts preparing Friday to close.

Mountain lions that roam about the Santa Monica Mountains in southern California typically tend to avoid residential areas, preferring instead chaparral and coastal sage scrub areas in and around Los Angeles, according to long-term studies by the National Park Service.

With its sharp, hooked bill, the kiwikiu is a master at cracking open branches or berries in pursuit of a plump insect meal. Ironically, this olive green and yellow bird, already on the national endangered species list, risks being pushed into extinction by an insect.

Beginning spring 2022, visitors to Yellowstone National Park will be able to make advance online reservations for backcountry permits at Recreation.gov.