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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

PEER Complains About Plant Collecting In National Parks, NPS Says It's Proposing Regulatory Changes

It's long been said that you should take only photographs and leave only footprints when you visit a national park. Well, a dispute over whether Native Americans can legally collect plants in the parks has prompted a group to call for a federal investigation into whether the National Park Service is looking the other way.

Appellate Court Says National Park Service Violated First Amendent By Requiring Permits for Free Speech

In an ironic development considering its role in tracking the nation's history and its efforts to preserve civility in national parks, the National Park Service's practice of requiring permits for public gatherings, demonstrations, or "expressions of views" has been found unconstitutional by an appellate court.
Image icon NPS-Free Speech Ruling.pdf

Reader Participation Day: Acadia National Park, or Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Glance at a map of the Eastern Seaboard and a number of intriguing national parks jump out: Acadia National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Everglades National Park. But which one to visit? If you had to choose between Acadia and Great Smoky, which of the two would be at the top of your list?

National Park Quiz 85: Trees

True to its title, this quiz tests your knowledge of trees in the national parks. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we'll make you write on the whiteboard 100 times: " Quantified Tree Risk Assessment provides a framework for assessing the three components of tree-failure risk; probability of failure, impact potential, and target value."

Independent Review Calls on National Park Service To Bolster Its Natural Resource Stewardship and Science

National Park Service managers must do a better job "to advance natural resource stewardship and science" throughout the agency, according to an independent review of the Park Service's Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate.

America's Great Outdoor Initiative Visits Asheville, North Carolina

Noting that the younger generations are "taking on the mantle of the outdoors," National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and other officials solicited suggestions on how to connect people with the outdoors during a North Carolina stop on the nationwide tour of America's Great Outdoor Initiative.

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