Editor's note: The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, previously known as the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, maintains the National Park System in its current form is too small, and that more effort should be made to expand it. In this article, the Coalition explains its rationale for such an effort.

While California's struggles with drought are national news, other states are having troubles, too. At Olympic National Park in Washington, the drought has led to officials announcing an emergency closure of recreational fishing on most rivers and streams within the park beginning today.

Night-sky viewing will be among the main attractions at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado in the coming days, while later in the month the park staff will be celebrating the date in 1909 when the monument's incredible fossil-studded cliff was discovered.

A grizzly bear, possibly a sow with cubs, attacked and partially consumed a hiker whose body was found near a trail in the vicinity of Lake Village in Yellowstone National Park, park officials said Saturday.