There is a false sense of security in the National Park System surrounding officially designated wilderness. And political actions, or, rather, inaction, demonstrates why there should be concern for the long-term fate of lands with wilderness qualities.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in finding that grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem should remain a threatened species, has ruled that federal wildlife biologists were wrong when they concluded the decline of whitebark pine trees was not detrimental to the bears' future.

Serious road cyclists do not often dally about when they're out for a ride, instead preferring to dance on the pedals at speeds of 20 mph and more. While they can easily do that on many National Park System roads, legislation pending in Congress could force them onto paved paths now enjoyed by walkers, folks with strollers, those in wheelchairs, and others not zooming along.

It was a good shot, and a good kill, but the Idaho man who thought he was hunting inside the Bridger-Teton National Forest actually was inside Grand Teton National Park when he killed the bison. And hunting bison in the national park is illegal.