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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Graffiti A Continuing Problem At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Graffiti in national parks is not necessarily a recent problem, and while it did receive national attention a year ago with the "art" left on park landscapes by a woman known as "creepytings," it continues to be a problem. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, graffiti most recently has marred the Lakeview Drive tunnel.

Catch Autumn's Glow: Your Best Bets

National parks actually glow in autumn. From the fluttering gold of aspens and larch in the parks along the spine of the Rocky Mountains to the oranges, yellows and reds of the hardwood forests that cover Eastern parks and even on the Southwest’s sandstone, fall is the season of incandescence in the park system. Where do you find these rainbows? Here’s your guide to the "best bets" for fall color in the National Park System.

Birding In The National Parks: Where The Shorebirds Are

Autumn travel may be all about the colors. Leaf-watchers head to Acadia, Shenandoah, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks in droves. Traffic jams aside, that’s a fine way to spend September and October. But before the leaves change, the birdwatchers are out looking for a lot of brown. The first weekend of September, after all, is World Shorebirds Day.

Speaking Of Bears, The Bear Crisis And A Tale Of Rewilding From Yosemite, Sequoia And Other National Parks

Even before the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, wildlife issues involving predators swirled about the national parks. Grizzly bears and wolves were apex predators that preyed on deer, elk, moose, and bison. As such, they were viewed as evil, rapacious carnivores that should be exterminated.

Effort Under Way To Review National Park System Wilderness Possibilities

Will the National Park Service soon be pushing for more wilderness designations? That's difficult to say, in large part because only Congress can designate wilderness. Still, there's an effort under way by the Park Servie to take a look at wilderness possibilities across the park system.

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