Soaring high overhead, circling upwards on thermals that lift wings spanning nearly 10 feet from tip to tip, California condors are one of the world's rarest birds. And while humans have helped immensely to recover their populations, humans also are standing in the way of recovery.

It started in mid-September; a few flakes began to flutter across the Crown of the Continent in Glacier National Park. The snow since then has slowly spread east and west, north and south. By January the white mantle likely will cover the whole northern tier of the National Park System, from Acadia west to Olympic, south through Rocky Mountain, into Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountain national parks.

Every October, K-12 school teachers in Utah are given time off to attend to the Utah Education Association Conference. And that means all K-12 students are given a three-day weekend. That weekend is this coming weekend, which means that national parks in the Beehive State are expected to be crowded.

Last October, while marveling over the gushing Riverside Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, I happened to look up and saw a small jet making circles overhead. Obviously, the pilot and his passengers wanted to watch the eruption as well. According to the National Park Service, that was the only authorized overflight for the month in Yellowstone, but across the National Park System there were tens of thousands of overflights last year that, while providing a bird's eye view of spectacular scenery, can be an annoyance to those on the ground.