What would you think if, on the way to your favorite national park, you had to drive past the world's largest landfill? One that would take in 20,000 tons of garbage a day, six days a week. While the prospect of such a landfill adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park remains on the drawing board, it's less likely to break ground any time soon following an appellate court's ruling.

Though most associate mining with the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada, in the late 19th century the lure of gold and silver ore bodies lured miners into the southern California desertscape now claimed by Joshua Tree National Park. Few prospectors made strikes, but left in their wake hundreds of mine openings that the park slowly is closing for public safety.

Most of us are familiar with the adage for visits to parks: "Take only photos, leave only footprints." Unfortunately, a California man decided to leave something else during repeat visits to Joshua Tree National Park: thousands of golf balls.

National parks very well may be one of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's loves, but oysters seemingly trump her view of national park values.