Oct 09 'Fat Bear' champ Grazer beats Chunk, the behemoth that killed her cub By Mark Thiessen, Associated Press In a storyline better befitting a melodrama than a popularity vote, Grazer won her second Fat Bear Contest Tuesday. Continue reading
Dec 04 National parks set to restrict tourist flights over monuments By Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press Fewer airplanes and helicopters will be flying tourists over Mount Rushmore and other national monuments and parks as new regulations take effect that are intended to protect the serenity of some of the nation’s most beloved natural areas. Continue reading
Sep 29 Gates will be locked and thousands of rangers furloughed at national parks if government shuts down By Anita Snow, Associated Press The economic impact of some parks are so huge that Arizona's Democratic governor and Utah's Republican governor will invest to keep Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national parks open. Continue reading
Sep 29 Gates will be locked and thousands of rangers furloughed at national parks if government shuts down By Anita Snow, Associated Press Gates will be locked and thousands of rangers will be furloughed from national park sites if Congress doesn’t reach a budget agreement. But Arizona and Utah officials say they’ll make sure visitors can still enjoy the dramatic depths of the… Continue reading
May 18 Here's why a government default could be worse than a government shutdown By Fatima Hussein, Associated Press All the hand-wringing over a potential government default if Congress doesn't increase the national debt limit has conjured up images of past government shutdowns. Continue reading
Oct 01 Watch 3:47 Why a grandmother and grandson are visiting every U.S. national park By Harry Zahn, Claire Mufson, Solveig Rennan 92-year-old Joy Ryan and her grandson Brad Ryan have spent the past seven years crisscrossing the U.S. with the goal of visiting every national park. “Grandma Joy’s Road Trip,” as they call it on social media, began after Brad found… Continue watching
Jun 08 Interior Department to phase out single-use plastics at national parks By Matthew Daly, Associated Press The Interior Department says it will phase out sales of plastic water bottles and other single-use products at national parks and on other public lands over the next decade, targeting a major source of U.S. pollution. Continue reading
Apr 24 Watch 3:40 Betty Reid Soskin, oldest active National Park ranger, retires By Geoff Bennett Betty Reid Soskin had the distinction of being the oldest active National Park ranger in the country, until she retired last month at the age of 100. She led public programs at the Rosie the Riveter-WWII Home Front National Historical… Continue watching
Nov 13 Watch 5:38 The off-season sights and sounds of Acadia National Park By Hari Sreenivasan, Sam Weber For a year, Rich MacDonald cataloged every bird he saw in his home county of Hancock, Maine, which includes the famous Acadia National Park. His so-called ‘big year’ is cataloged in his book, “Little Big Year, Chasing Acadia’s Birds.” MacDonald… Continue watching
Jun 30 Climate change is 'fundamentally' altering Yellowstone's ecosystem By Adam Popescu, Yale Environment 360 A new report details global warming’s impact on Yellowstone Park, changes that have begun to fundamentally alter its famed ecosystem and threaten everything from its forests to Old Faithful geyser. Such troubling shifts are occurring in national parks across the… Continue reading