Natural Bridges National Monument

National parks across the country continue to lag behind a court-ordered schedule to complete air-tour management plans and are failing to conduct environmentally required studies as they develop those plans, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Despite more than two decades to get the task accomplished, and almost two years after a federal judge ordered the Federal Aviation Administration and National Park Service to get the job done by this summer, air tour management plans for eight national parks will not be completed on schedule, according to court documents filed by the two agencies.

Hot, dry weather and baked vegetation have prompted tighter fire restrictions for visitors to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and other public lands in southeastern Utah.

“Half the park is after dark.” April 5 – 12 marks International Dark Sky Week 2021, a celebration of the vast, wondrous, starry sky above us. Perhaps you are even planning a visit to a National Park Service unit that's been designated an International Dark Sky Park. This special week also emphasizes how light pollution hampers our ability to see the stars and produces harmful consequences to all living things.