Don't use Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park as a climate change gauge. While snows have closed the road for the season, a check of past years shows this year's closure is neither particularly late nor early.

So much for taking only pictures and leaving only footprints. Some climbers in Rocky Mountain National Park have been leaving behind crash pads so they don't have to haul them in and out of the park every time they want to go bouldering. Tsch, tsch.

In the last week, more than $3 million in donations and grants have been announced to help Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Big Bend national parks with a wide range of projects, from habitat restoration to trails work.

The American Marten is a rare North Woods animal that you'll probably never see, save for paw prints in the snow. This brown, bushy-tailed little critter, which looks something like a cross between a mink and a house-cat, was prized for its luxurious fur and darn near trapped to extinction in the United States during the 19th century. Today, despite habitat losses and related problems, the American Marten still inhabits much of its historical range.