As Congress works in the coming months to reach accord on legislation that would provide billions of dollars to address the National Park System's nearly $12 billion in maintenance work that's been put off for a year or longer, the backlog continues to inch higher and higher. If a funding mechanism is passed, then the National Park Service will have to craft a national priority list of projects that need to be tackled. While that list doesn't exist yet, here's a look at some possible top priorities.

A former top National Park Service official implicated more than a decade ago for improperly paving the way for the owner of the Washington Redskins to cut down trees on a 2-acre scenic easement along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park is expected to become the agency's next acting director, possibly as soon as next week, National Parks Traveler has learned.

The National Parks Conservation Association, claiming that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to conduct due diligence in reviewing a permit application to string power lines along 300-foot tall towers through the James River near Historic Jamestowne has sued the agency in federal court.

A 7-mile-long string of electrical transmission towers that would march across the James River within sight of historic Jamestowne and Colonial National Historical Park would cause "severe and unacceptable damage to this historically important area and the irreplaceable and iconic resources within it," according to former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis.