A holiday fishing outing at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska ended tragically when the small craft capsized, leaving two dead and four with hypothermia, according to park staff.

This summer the Huna Tribal House long under construction at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska will open its doors. Named Xunaa Shuká Hít by Huna clan leaders, the facility is on the shores of Bartlett Cove in the national park. The presence of elaborate carvings, hand crafted canoes, and traditional songs will enrich this very special "Return to Homeland" celebratory event, jointly planned for August 25 by the Huna clans, the National Park Service and the Hoonah Indian Association.

Glacier National Park is often described as a "hiker's paradise," and over 700 miles of trails offer plenty of choices for what the park describes as "adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude." Glacier also offers some fine shorter hikes that offer a taste of the backcountry with only moderate physical demands, and one of the most popular is the combination boat trip/hike to Grinnell Lake.

The need to prevent national park units from turning into biological islands, cut off from other wild lands by development, is not a new worry. But a recent study reinforces the value of ensuring migrational corridors survive.