As beautiful as Mount Rainier National Park is during warm, calm weather, it can be extremely dangerous when a snowstorm rolls in with rangers or researchers on the mountain or in its forests without cell coverage. Thanks to a seven-figure gift from the estate of a Washington woman, it soon will be easier to track those individuals even at the height of a storm.

Each year, more than 250,000 visitors make a stop at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. They stroll the nearly 25 miles of carriage trails on the 3,500-acre estate, travel back in time with a ranger-led tour of Flat Top Manor, or simply sit on the porch and enjoy the view of Bass Lake in the distance below. And while they might notice construction, they probably don't know who's paying for it.

Spring plowing operations have begun in Glacier National Park, but with a heavy snow year, it could take a while for the park to dig out from under the snowpack.

As of right now, it looks like a reprieve of sorts could be in the offing for units of the National Park System battered by hurricanes last year.