Citing rising operating costs as well as the park's hefty maintenance backlog, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash says front country camping fees are going up this year.

If you ever questioned whether the National Park Service is hamstrung by an insufficient budget, all you need do is look at news from the past week.

Though work on rehabilitating the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is not entirely finished, the point of attraction has reopened to the public with the rest of the work put off until spring.

Last October, while marveling over the gushing Riverside Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, I happened to look up and saw a small jet making circles overhead. Obviously, the pilot and his passengers wanted to watch the eruption as well. According to the National Park Service, that was the only authorized overflight for the month in Yellowstone, but across the National Park System there were tens of thousands of overflights last year that, while providing a bird's eye view of spectacular scenery, can be an annoyance to those on the ground.