President Obama's budget request for the 2016 fiscal year seeks $2.6 billion for the National Park Service, an increase of $55 million from current funding levels. That request seeks hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure needs, such as renovations to the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park and for safety, efficiency, and access upgrades to the visitor's center at Gettysburg National Military Park.

An historic homesteader's cabin at Grand Teton National Park that had been vandalized by someone armed with cans of spray paint has had the image removed, though more work needs to be done to restore the weathered patina nearly 100 years of exposure had created.

Approved "takings" of grizzly bears in part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem threaten to undercut recovery of the species, according to groups that plan to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the matter.

Though the summer months are the peak travel seasons for national parks in the Rocky Mountain region, the winter months with their snow and cold...and often crystalline skies...are perfect for a retreat to the Rockies. Here's a handful of parks worthy of your consideration.