Delicate trilliums, glorious columbines, and flamboyant redbuds are some of the harbingers of spring found across the National Park System. This is a favorite season for birds, bees, and photographers. Wildlife is more easily seen in the spring in many parks, too, making the coming three months idyllic for exploring the parks.

National park boundaries are largely imaginary things, without walls or fences. As a result, what happens on adjacent lands can impact parks, which is one reason there is an outcry over the U.S. Senate's decision, by a party-line vote, to scrap a U.S. Bureau of Land Management regulation intended to give the public a greater voice during that agency's planning periods.

Warming in the 21st century reduced Colorado River flows by at least 0.5 million acre-feet, about the amount of water used by 2 million people for one year, according to new research.

National Park Service officials have settled on an off-road management plan for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that, if adopted, would carry adverse impacts for soils, vegetation, and paleontological and archaeological resources and lead to increased safety issues for visitors.