National Park News

On January 22, 2009, two North Carolina men were convicted and sentenced in Federal Court in Bryson City, NC, one for illegally digging American ginseng and both for a failure to obey a lawful order given by a U.S. Park Ranger in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Jeremy Farmer, 24, of Canton, NC and Larry Johnson, 46, of Clyde, NC were both found guilty, fined and sentenced to jail terms.

The National Park Service and the Murie Science and Learning Center (MSLC) have extended the application period for two research fellowships that are available to individuals wishing to conduct research in Denali National Park and Preserve and other arctic and subarctic Alaska national parks.

For 10,000 years, people have spent time on the waters and islands of Biscayne National Park. Who were they? What did they do? What did they leave behind?

The largest cycling event in America, the 2009 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding, recently expanded, 750-mile course from Sacramento to Escondido from February 14-22, 2009.  For the first time, the Tour will be passing through the Yosemite National Park area with the course going through the gateway communities of Mariposa and Oakhurst.  The Yosemite portion, Stage 4, will occur midday on Wednesday, February 18. 

Forty five moose were sighted during an aerial moose survey completed in January in Voyageurs National Park.

Large format watercolor batiks on silk offer a "Fish Eye" interpretation of Biscayne National Park by artist Vanessa Bryson.

Join park guide and veteran ice fisherman Mike Williams on February 15th from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. to learn about ice fishing techniques.

Projects include new restroom, rehabilitation of existing restrooms, improved shuttle stop, installation of efficient power generation system

Denali National Park and Preserve, its partners, and the Denali Borough communities are inviting everyone to come celebrate all that is special about our longest season during the ninth annual Winterfest Celebration, taking place Friday, February 20 through Sunday, February 22.

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits are for specific launch dates within calendar year 2010.

Public comment will be accepted through March 11, 2009.

The two bodies discovered in a residential trailer park within Grand Canyon National Park yesterday have been identified as Laurent “Maverick” Gaudreau, 82, and Shirley Gaudreau, 73, both from Grand Canyon, Ariz. Presumptive identification was made this morning based on circumstantial evidence, and from marks on scars on the bodies. 

Grand Canyon National Park rangers responded to a 9-1-1 call early this morning and discovered the bodies of a male and female in a mobile home located in a residential trailer park within Grand Canyon.  The incident is being investigated as a murder/suicide.

During the February “From Shore to Sea” lectures Dr. Milton Love, with University of California Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute, will provide insights on how fish adapt in the open ocean environment including how rockfish settle at oil platforms.

Comments to be used in developing an environmental assessment due out this summer.

Grand Canyon National Park Rangers Respond to 9-1-1 call in a housing area within the park and discover two deceased bodies

Four percent fewer visitors traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Calendar Year 2008 when compared to the same period in 2007. During a year of soaring automotive fuel prices and a highly-publicized faltering economy, the park received 9,044,010 visitors through its three main entrances and outlying areas throughout Tennessee and North Carolina in 2008.

“The Endangered Everglades – Part II” exhibit at Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park Launches Video Podcast Programs

Celebrate the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth with a look at the "Amazing Adaptations" exhibited by some of the park's plants and animals.

The National Park Service (NPS) is soliciting public input for an environmental assessment on an Exotic Plant Management Plan that encompasses all four parks of the Southeast Utah Group of National Parks.

The National Park Service (NPS) is soliciting public input for an environmental assessment on an Exotic Plant Management Plan that encompasses all four parks of the Southeast Utah Group of National Parks.

2009 Lyceum Series – Celebrate our Natural World: Artists Who Are Inspired by the Environment. Join artist Jim Disney Saturday, February 7 at 7 p.m. as he presents a discussion about finding artistic inspiration in the natural beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park combined with a digital presentation of photographs, paintings & drawings.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park's annual aerial elk survey was completed January 20-22, 2009, recording an estimated 878 elk in the South Unit of the park.

Grand Canyon National Park will  celebrate its 90th Anniversary Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. along with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly opened Verkamp's Visitor Center. The event will be open to the public and will take place at the Verkamp's Visitor Center located near the historic El Tovar in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.