A lack of money, nearly $700 million, has left National Park Service crews are far behind in caring for the maintained landscape of the National Park System, the battlefields, the campgrounds, even the historic orchards that can be found in some parks and the trails that wind through the underground of Mammoth Cave National Park.

Seven months into his administration, President Trump has yet to nominate a director for the National Park Service. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke does have an advisor on his team with a wealth of Park Service experience, one whose background has been investigated, leading to speculation that that individual will be nominated soon.

Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Sarah Craighead has announced that all river users in the park will have to wear personal flotation devices at all times when on Green River or Nolin River.

The spine of the Appalachian Range runs north and south through the Mid- and South-Atlantic states, a rumpled stretch of mountains that long has provided a corridor for species. One uninvited species, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, arrived in 1951, and since then has attacked hemlock forests once commonplace in Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since 1988 the National Park Service has been battling the tiny insect, and has met with varying success in those three parks. While much work remains to be done, there is optimism some of the hemlock stands will be saved. In the following stories, we take a look at the campaign.