It very likely will be a bit more costly to enter Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Acadia, Shenandoah and the other 126 units that charge entrance fees by the time the National Park Service's centennial arrives in 2016, and you also should brace for slightly higher fees to camp, shower, paddle, and participate in boat and cave tours.

Just weeks after a visitor crashed a drone into Yellowstone National Park’s largest hot spring, park officials have filed criminal charges against the alleged pilot, and are stepping up their efforts to publicize and enforce a ban on unmanned aerial vehicles in the park.

William H. Jackson was a photographer on the now famous Hayden Geological Survey of the Yellowstone region in 1871, and his images are often cited as an important factor in the campaign to have the area established as a national park. In 1938, at the age of 94, W. J. Jackson returned to the park for a visit, and an old report about his trip offers some fascinating insights into the Hayden Survey and how times have changes in the world of photography.

Is the National Park System in danger of turning into a catchall system? Should a site dedicated to the nuclear arms race, another to union organizers, and another to First Ladies really fall under an agency that started out preserving spectacular vistas and landscapes, that showcases Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon?