Spring has sprung, so this quiz and trivia piece is about spring wildflowers you’ll see in the national parks. Dust out those mental cobwebs and test your knowledge while maybe learning something new in the process.

"Elephant Hill," perhaps the gnarliest four-wheel-drive road at Canyonlands National Park in Utah, will close to the public for ten days in early April for what park staff call "much-needed repairs.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to allow two conservation groups to intervene in Utah cases involving state efforts to have dirt washes, seasonal streambeds, and possibly even cattle trails and hiking paths declared roads across federal lands.

Vandalism in its many forms, seems to be continuing unabated in the national parks. The Leave No Trace Seven Principals don’t appear to apply to those who wish to let others know they were there in the form of acrylic paint on 180-million year old sandstone and gouges into rock and living trees in places like Zion, Joshua Tree, Olympic, and Redwood national parks? Is modern graffiti on protected lands considered art and future history for archeologists, much like the ancient petroglyphs and pictographs now safeguarded within the boundaries of natural parks, national memorials, and other park units? Or is it a despoiling of protected National Park Service lands by a selfish few who apparently learned no respect for keeping the landscape unblemished for the enjoyment of present and future generations? Contributing editor and photographer Rebecca Latson offers her own thoughts on the subject.