Virgin Islands National Park

Mangrove trees serve as nature's hurricane barriers for places such as Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Virgin Islands National Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve. Plus, they provide valuable habitat for fish and other marine life, and are pretty cool for humans who are fortunate enough to paddle through them. But they could be gone by 2050, victims of sea level rise driven by climate change.

In the watery world of national parks that touch the Caribbean Sea and the Straits of Florida, staghorn corals add some height to reefs. Their outstretched arms rise from the reefs, often mimicking elk or deer antlers to onlookers with some imagination. But since the 1970s more than 95 percent of these distinctive corals have died, and fears that they would vanish were growing. Now, though, research indicates that a vigorous transplanting initiative possibly could help recover the species.

On the sun- and surf-splashed north shore of Virgin Islands National Park, the operators of the Caneel Bay Resort had a handsome operation. Nightly rates quickly surged past $600 for a room in paradise, they were surrounded by a national park, and they owed the National Park Service nothing for that privilege.

While we're spending National Park Week tyring to enjoy the parks virtually, we also need to spend time pondering the condition of the National Park System and asking what needs to be done to show we really believe the parks are America's Best Idea. Just saying those three words doesn't make it so.