National Parks Traveler

An Alaska man paddling down the Tana River in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska drowned after being thrown out of his packraft, according to park officials.

In central New Jersey, just a short distance from New York City, the Continental Army hunkered down in a place called Jockey Hollow for a long, cold, harsh winter of monitoring the British troops across the Hudson River in New York City. Today you can get a feel for this setting -- though it's heavily urbanized these days -- with a visit to Morristown National Historical Park where General George Washington and 10,000-12,000 troops spent what's believed to be the coldest winter on record.

Next time you find yourself in a gift shop at a national park, check out where the items were made. You just might be surprised that a majority of the items are made in America, with fewer and fewer bearing an oval gold-and-black 'Made in China' sticker on them.

The hawksbill turtle, an endangered species, will receive some help from a National Park Foundation grant that will support efforts at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to protect the reptile and improve its habitat at the park.