After much debate, discussion, and consideration, elk culling operations are scheduled to get under way in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in November, when the first of 240 volunteers will be guided into the park's South Unit with instructions to kill as many cow elk as they can.

A new IUCN publication reports on the status of wild and conservation-herd bison, makes bison conservation recommendations, and stirs controversy over emotion-charged issues such as the possible "rebisoning" of large areas of former bison range.

How far should national park managers go when it comes to wildlife management issues? That's a controversial issue in some circles, as evidenced by the concern being raised over a proposal at Cape Cod National Seashore to poison some crows that have developed a knack for preying on piping plovers, a threatened species along the Atlantic Seaboard under the Endangered Species Act, whose nests are seemingly protected by enclosures.

Barring bad weather, the folks at Wind Cave National Park will be counting birds on Sunday when their annual Christmas Bird Count is scheduled to be tallied.