How far the national parks have come, from being described in the 19th century as unproductive wastelands to get congressional approval to now being described as economic engines that are behind nearly $27 billion in business.
With the travel season not too far off, you should be planning your national park adventures. If you're looking for a great scenic drive, we offer the following for your consideration.
There's an intriguing page within the vast nps.gov domain that opens a wonderful portal of history, one that allows us to compare today with yesteryear. The site, within the National Park Service Fire and Aviation Management section, compares historic photos taken from fire lookouts in the National Park System with today's landscapes.
A debate over whether the wolverine needs Endangered Species Act protection has prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend its deadline for making the decision on that question.
The ability of the NPS and other government agencies to maintain some useful websites is proving to be a serious challenge in the face of budget cuts, and that trend seems unlikely to change. Now a pair of private citizens has stepped forward help fill that gap with a new national park history site called "National Park Electronic Library."
The crossing paths of fall and winter produce spectacular vistas in the high country of the northern Rockies, as Jane Timmerman's photo of Glacier National Park clearly shows. This was taken October 20, 2013, on the west side of the park, about 4 miles from "the" Loop on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
It's not unusual for find piles of stones marking the way for trails across open terrain in mountains, deserts and terrain otherwise devoid of easily recognizable landmarks, but these "cairns" can evoke a surprising amount of controversy both in an out of national parks. Sometimes, however, what appears to be a cairn is actually instead an item of historic interest.
Even if Congress finds a way to keep the federal government operating beyond midnight, part of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park still might be closed Tuesday...due to snow.