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Should Yellowstone National Park have more bison, should it have less? Just recently the park embarked on an environmental impact statement to examine that question.
Dr. James Derr, a professor of veterinary genetics at Texas A&M University who has spent more than a quarter century directing worldwide research projects in wildlife and livestock conservation genetics, discusses bison in Yellowstone and elsewhere on public lands.
RVing –- traveling by recreational vehicle –- has exploded along with the coronavirus pandemic. Sales have gone through the roof, inventory has been depleted, and would-be customers often have to wait months before they can hit the road with their new rig.
Many, if not most, of those RV enthusiasts are heading into the National Park System. And why not? Gorgeous scenery, inspiring landscapes, relaxation. But it's not as simple as it used to be because of that rush to hit the road with your home either being towed along or on the back of your pickup.
Rene Agredano, a full-time RVer since 2007, discusses the challenges of enjoying the parks by RV.
With the great rush to the outdoors that we've seen since the Covid pandemic erupted, there have been many calls for more space in the National Park System. While there are places in the West that seem to be logical additions to the parks there, that's not the case in the East. So, if we want more park lands east of the Mississippi, how could we gain them?
Nancy East is well familiar with the park's trail network, as she and a close friend set out in the fall of 2020 to hike every mile of that network, and then she wrote about it in a new book, Chasing the Smokies Moon. We talk with Nancy to understand what motivated her to embark on such a hike and what that endeavor taught her.
All is not well at Point Reyes National Seashore, as a years-long battle continues over ranching at Point Reyes, how it's impacting the seashore's environment, and how the National Park Service is trying to manage it. To sort through some of these issues, we're joined by Laura Cunningham, California director at Western Watersheds Project.
Last week the National Parks Traveler took you to Big Bend National Park in far west Texas with a discussion with Chief of Interpretation Tom Vandenberg. This week, Traveler's Lynn Riddick provides a first-hand, more personal glimpse into this vast remote park.
Afterwards, Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek shares a short conversation he had with Charles Sams, the new director of the National Park Service.
The National Parks Traveler's Lynn Riddick begins a two-part series about her recent trip to Big Bend -- a vast wilderness in the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. She meets up with the park's chief of interpretation, who offers an overview of the park's varied geology and diverse ecology, its human history and what the future may hold for visitors seeking adventure and solitude in the park's 800,000 acres.
This has been one of the most newsworthy years in recent memory for the National Park Service and the parks.
There's finally a Senate-confirmed director at the helm, billions of dollars are flowing into the parks for a variety of projects, wildfires chewed through Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Lassen Volcanic national parks, lakes Powell and Mead are shadows of their former selves.
A look back at news in the National Park System in 2021.
As the global human population continues to increase, as sprawl continues to wash over natural areas, the amount of space needed for flora and fauna to thrive and, even, in some cases, survive, is steadily being squeezed by the human footprint.
Kristine Tompkins knows a little about protecting landscapes for nature. She and her late husband, Doug Tompkins, donated more than 2 million acres in Chile and Argentina to those two countries, which in turn were able to create 13 national parks.
When you visit Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, after you've gazed into the Kīlauea crater itself if it's erupting, you should make a point to hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail. Starting from an overlook near Nāhuku (aka the Thurston Lava Tube), the trail goes down through the rainforest and out across a crater floor created back in 1959 by one of the most spectacular eruptions of the 20th century at the national park.
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