Two new books offer an invitation to the parks — and an argument for their existence.
National Park Service
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
How not to forget the West’s past atrocities
The national park system does more than celebrate beauty. It also commemorates the ugliest parts of our past.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
NPS unveiled: Meet the people that make the national parks run
Thousands of individuals in parks from Denali to Petrified Forest do little-known but essential jobs.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
Protecting the Oregon Trail from the development it helped create
Dedicated volunteers fight to preserve one of the trails that brought settlers west.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
Secrets of the National Park Service
Readers and staff speak out on surprising favorites.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
The tricky allure of unpeopled places
Longing for solitude on the land, and feeling uneasy.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
Tracing America’s Borderlands history along the Anza Trail
Immigrants still follow Juan Bautista de Anza’s historic route.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
Whiteness reigns in a new film celebrating national parks
The new film National Parks Adventure aims to inspire its viewers, as producer Shaun MacGillivray puts it, “to get off their couches and get outdoors.” Its destination of choice is our national parks, which are celebrating 100 years of management by the National Park Service in 2016. MacGillivray and his crew used every IMAX 3-D […]
Posted inArticles
A rare ecological event: ‘super bloom’ in Death Valley
The arid park is covered in wildflowers for the first time in a decade.
Posted inArticles
Interactive timeline: Fish & Wildlife Service proposes to delist Yellowstone grizzly
Decision marks the second time the grizzly has faced loss of federal protection.
Posted inArticles
The science behind Yellowstone’s bison cull
Some wildlife biologists say the cull makes sense — but not because bison can spread brucellosis.
Posted inArticles
Should this national monument become a national park?
An Idaho town hopes changing Craters of the Moon to park status will boost its economy.
Posted inArticles
Grand Canyon park’s 15-year failure on sexual harassment
Interior Department investigation shows a history of harassment, hostility and retaliation.
Posted inArticles
What if the Grand Canyon were private? An alternate future for the park.
In the beginning, you didn’t need any permits. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration. Even back in the halcyon days of the 1960s, permits were required to backpack in Grand Canyon, but they weren’t a big deal. We would drive up after school and bang on the door of park headquarters, whereupon a ranger would clamber […]
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
Latest: Yellowstone officials to cull hundreds of bison
Meanwhile, Montana released a plan to let bison roam year-round outside the park.
Posted inArticles
Forty years of Sagebrush Rebellion
The Oregon occupation, the 2014 Bundy standoff and many other stories are all related to a long-simmering movement.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Pet the nipping pup and hide your newcomer roots: tips from a failed campaign.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Leave your dog at home, please
What I say will not make me a popular person, but here it is: For excellent reasons, dogs should not be – and usually aren’t — allowed in the backcountry of national parks. Dogs, being predators, bother wildlife even when they’re leashed. Then there’s canine fecal matter, which carries a number of diseases and parasites […]
Posted inNovember 23, 2015: Water Hustle
Latest: National Park Service intervenes in Alaska predator hunting
BACKSTORYIn Alaska, federal and state officials have long clashed over the management of wolves and bears in national parks and preserves. State law requires sustaining abundant caribou and moose populations for food security, a goal that often entails killing off predators, while the federal 1916 Organic Act mandates keeping healthy populations of all wildlife species. […]