An ad campaign has been launched in a bid to convince Congress not to overhaul the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which for decades has been sending millions of dollars out across the country for state, local, and federal recreation and conservation projects.

If “October” and “travel” are in the same story, odds are good that it’s an article about the best places to see fall foliage. Of course, to those of us with birds perpetually on the brain, October is the conclusion of fall migrant season. With that in mind, I got to wondering about the best national park to maximize migrant-watching and leaf-peeping in one trip.

With a week left in the current fiscal year, and Congress seemingly unable to come to terms on how to fund the federal government, efforts are under way within the Interior Department, and National Park Service, to prepare for a government shutdown next week.