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Traveler's View: Random Thoughts From, And About, National Parks

There really never is a dull moment when it comes to the National Park System. Not when there's a candidate for Congress saying Olympic National Park should be turned over to the state of Washington, when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke praises the stabilization of a backcountry lodge in Glacier National Park but is mum on Grand Canyon National Park's leaky water system, and when the National Park Service looks the other way regarding its role not to interfere with natural processes.
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Communities Work To Protect The Upper Delaware Scenic And Recreational River And Their Way Of Life

A river runs through it. For 73 miles, the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River runs through a bucolic section of New York state and neighboring Pennsylvania, one whose rolling mountains, leaping streams, and rural communities are the past and the future of this region.

Turning Down The Lights At Great Basin National Park

It’s really dark where I’m standing--so dark that I’m fumbling with pen and notebook to jot down the amazed comments of the folks next to me: “Cool!” “Oh wow!” “Fantastic!” No, we’re not inside Lehman Cave, where rangers like to turn off the lights for a minute or so during their cavern tours to emphasize the pitch darkness underground. We’re at a picnic area close by the visitor center at the cave, where the ninth annual Great Basin Astronomy Festival is underway.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park's Biodiversity Inventory Reaches 1,000 Species Mark

While it has been hundreds of years since Europeans first arrived in North America, new species continue to be discovered in the landscape. Most recently, those involved with the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have reached the 1,000 plateau in terms of new species to science discovered in the park.