Everglades National Park

Some Florida panthers, already struggling with an extremely low population, could be afflicted with a neurological malady that impairs their rear legs and leads to difficulty in walking, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Dive beneath the surface in the lower Florida Keys, and swimmers once found themselves hovering above vibrant, coral communities. However, the past three decades have revealed a devastating loss of reef life around the globe. In the Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area alone, living coral cover plunged from 33% in 1984 to less than 6% twenty-four years later. But why?

A federal Transportation Department grant program will help three units of the National Park System tackle some much needed roadwork.

I've long been a paddler, but primarily of canoes and occasionally rafts. While I have a few times gotten into a sea kayak and paddled away from shore, I never fully embraced the sport. Until now. Having placed an order for a sea kayak worthy of big lakes and ocean waters, while awaiting delivery I naturally turned my attention to where in the National Park System this new hobby would fit. And the results were fairly breathtaking in the parkscapes they entailed.