A half-dozen Democrats in the U.S. Senate are supporting legislation that, if approved, would restore staffing levels for the National Park Service.

A federal judge's ruling Thursday that the National Park Service must rehire any employees who were wrongfully fired on Valentine's Day was praised by park advocates.

Human remains, tattered mining claims, a 19th-century set of books containing the complete works of Shakespeare, and well-worn curtains that shaded the windows at Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park are among the millions of artifacts that National Park Service experts preserve, revive from decades of wear and disaster, and piece together so their stories can be brought to life in park museums.

There was no press release, no sparkling quote from the National Park Service's acting director, no agency public conversation about the record 331.9 million people who explored the National Park System in 2024.