Recreational interests were understandably thrilled when the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sent to the Senate floor America's Outdoor Recreation Act of 2022, but there are flaws with the measure that heighten risks to federal lands and the flora and fauna that depend on them.

National Park Week is a great time to celebrate and enjoy the National Park System, but it’s also a time to assess the state of the 423 units of that system, and there’s much to be concerned about.

Trying to understand the National Park Service's visitor fees can be, well, baffling if not impossible.

Is it just a pandemic phase we're going through, or has the golden age of national parks slipped away while we struggled with reservations for camping and even entering parks, when the Instagram age has made photos seemingly more important than experiences in the parks, and when a Facebook page that tracks the "dumb, dangerous, illegal, and what-where-they-thinking exploits" of Yellowstone National Park gained traction?

For too long Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida has been treated akin to a sacrificial lamb by the National Park Service and Interior Department, as decisions on issues such as wilderness designation and oil exploration have gone against the Park Service's prime directive, which is to preserve nature for future generation's enjoyment.

If Charles Sams, who is waiting for the Senate to confirm him as National Park Service director, is serious about his top priority being to lift the morale of the agency's workforce, seeing better, and more, housing for the field staff should be in tandem with better pay.

Though we had paddled halfway down Yellowstone Lake into an area of Yellowstone National Park that is managed as wilderness and where it would take you a day or more to reach on foot, we hadn't entirely escaped the 21st century. From time to time throughout our five days on the lake the throb of planes fell down upon us from high overhead.

There's been a lot of national media attention on the National Park System lately, but, unfortunately, it's not the kind we'd like to see.

While the National Park Service recently made news by promoting the economics tied to the National Park System -- last year visitation to the parks generated an estimated $28.6 billion for the country's economy -- just as, if not more, important would be framing the parks' contribution to the natural world.

Whoever is confirmed as Interior secretary for the Biden administration should shut down Burnett Oil Co.'s plans to drill for oil in Big Cypress National Preserve and bring an end to any new prospecting or drilling in the biologically diverse and ecologically vital park in South Florida.

Once the Biden administration has a Senate-confirmed Interior secretary, that person needs to see that the National Park Service conducts an environmental impact statement, not a less rigorous environmental assessment, on the current plans to drill for oil in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Is there really a need for 13 miles of mountain bike trails, with more asphalt and supporting infrastructure, to be cut into an undisturbed section of the Foothills Parkway at Great Smoky Mountains National Park? How would the "experience of riding a narrow roller-coaster with a rhythm of twists and turns" enhance the visitor experience at this wondrous realm of nature?

The National Park Service should strive to protect a critically endangered species, educate the public, and contribute to research into species such as the Kemp's ridley sea turtle, not diminish the Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Program at Padre Island National Seashore.

First it was the National Environmental Policy Act. Is the Endangered Species Act next?

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which works "to make energy development on public lands easier," should not ignore business sense, or its overall mission, at the same time.

During the past few months of watching the coronavirus pandemic roil the National Park System and those who love to visit it, a couple things have bubbled to the surface that the National Park Service should act on: Extend annual passes that are to run out in 2020 for two or three months, and make park reservations a norm where obviously necessary.

After seven years of intransigence by the private equity firm that controls the Caneel Bay Resort at Virgin Islands National Park, top Interior Department officials continue to hold out hope they can convince the firm to become an official park concessionaire in late 2023. They could likely speed that agreement on by beginning the process to find a concessionaire for the resort that currently is that in name only.

While we're spending National Park Week tyring to enjoy the parks virtually, we also need to spend time pondering the condition of the National Park System and asking what needs to be done to show we really believe the parks are America's Best Idea. Just saying those three words doesn't make it so.

There are two sides, at least, as to why Grand Canyon National Park remains open during the coronavirus pandemic, and history would point to the answer being Arizona's governor wants it open.

Knowledge, as they say, is power. And if you enjoy visiting national parks around the country, you need to stay aware of efforts to weaken environmental laws that protect the parks and other public lands you enjoy for recreational pursuits.