Whitebark pines, majestic trees that grow across Western national parks and feed birds and bears and serve as living snow fences, are at risk of disappearing due to disease, beetle attacks, and climate change and deserve protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday.

In a move to halt illegal roadside parking that greatly impacts the park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park crews will be installing barriers -- boulders, fencing, and wooden bollards -- to protect the road shoulders.

Peeking through the viewing slots on the wooden observation platform at Étang de la Baie Lucas, we don’t need binoculars to see an embarrassment of wildlife. Large iguanas are nestled in the mangroves, including one bright green female and two males that have turned reddish-orange to display dominance and attract mates. There’s a Brown Pelican on the rocks. In the water, a Snowy Egret looks for food near a Great Egret and Spotted Sandpiper as four White-Cheeked Pintail ducks putter merrily about.

The National Park Service is charged with preserving natural resources, a challenging mission at best, but one that can get emotionally charged when the topic of removing nonnative horses and cattle comes up. At Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, officials are gathering public comment on what to do with the roughly 200 feral horses and nine cattle that roam that park.