National Park News

Tim Jarrell, a 32 year veteran of the National Park Service, was recently named Chief of the Facilities Management Division at Grand Canyon National Park.

A prescribed fire on Jim Lee Ridge in Mammoth Cave National Park will produce smoke that will be visible from the south and west of the park.

Today, critically acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns will visit Los Angeles to share highlights of his upcoming six-part, 12-hour series “THE NATIONAL PARKS: America’s Best Idea” at a film preview at Paramount Ranch in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Filmmakers Burns and Duncan discuss the film The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, their six-part, 12-hour series scheduled to air on PBS stations nationwide this September.

Join retired Silviculturist John Zasada as he weaves birch bark into many different items.

Calling all young bird watchers! Come learn basic bird watching tips at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center on Sunday, March 22, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

On Monday, March 16 the National Park Service road crew will begin the annual operations to clear and prepare the Denali Park Road beyond park headquarters (Mile 3) for vehicle access by park visitors.

An Environmental Assessment (EA) for the replacement of the restroom facilities at the Polychrome Overlook, Teklanika Rest Stop, and Teklanika River Campground in Denali National Park and Preserve is now available for public review and comment, announced Superintendent Paul R. Anderson. The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing to remove the existing chemical toilets at these sites and replace them with non-chemical facilities.

Two Week Long Course Offers Teens Personal and Intellectual Challenges

Zion National Park and Southern Utah University faculty and students created and designed an exhibit to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Zion National Park.

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, Grand Canyon National Park will host Archeology Day in honor of "Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month". 

Each year students from colleges and universities across the nation spend their spring breaks doing volunteer service projects in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yellowstone National Park will soon be accepting the names of individuals interested in receiving firewood collection permits during 2009.  Excess firewood is periodically available in the park due to such events as wildland fire fuel mitigation, strong winds, construction projects, or hazard tree removal.

On Monday, February 23, at the Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo Awards Banquet, "Salute to Excellence", members of Grand Canyon National Park's helitack and search and rescue crews received the Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service in recognition of their efforts during the short-haul rescue of sixteen stranded boaters on August 17, 2008

The day dawned like any other, barely. Within minutes, the way we think of oil, how we manage commercial shipping, and how the National Park Service manages resources changed forever.

Changes in technology have made it easier than ever to find out what is happening at the world’s first national park.  Yellowstone National Park is now offering its news releases through an RSS feed.

On Thursday, February 26, park staff, partners and friends gathered at the new Verkamp's Visitor Center on the South Rim to celebrate Grand Canyon's 90th year as a national park and to commemorate the re-opening of an historic structure as a park visitor center.

Yellowstone National Park rangers will be conducting safety and sobriety checkpoints on Highway 191 inside the park between Friday, March 13, and Sunday, March 15, 2009.

Two trails popular with spring cross-country skiers and snowshoers near Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park have been temporarily closed.

March 2009 Coe Visitor Center Art Exhibit

Kids from preschool through sixth grade are invited to enter the contest by creating a new painting or drawing that illustrates the theme, The Boreal Forest – Many Things It Offers.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now recruiting rising 8th grade girls for its summer Girls in Science Camp at its environmental residential center, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont located near Townsend, TN. The camp will be held June 22-27, 2009. It is made possible through a 3-year, $1,000,000 Science Education grant from Toyota to Friends of the Smokies, a non-profit organization that supports conservation, education, and other Park priorities. The camp is just one of the programs made possible through the grant.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson has announced that an 18 month-long project to repave 6.5 miles of the Park’s Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) is set to begin on March 16.

As the snow melts and spring begins to emerge, so do bears from their dens.  Tracks from an undetermined species of bear were spotted March first on Specimen Ridge, and tracks from a grizzly were spotted on March third along the Tower Fall Ski trail.

Free Educational DVD Helps Boaters Navigate Waters of Florida Bay

Park Celebrates Archaeology Month with Turner River Tour March 28-29

The “Connect Trails to Parks” program of the National Park Service (NPS) has granted $100,000 for planning and coordination of the Lions Park Trail and Transportation Hub.

Project would include improvements to existing fish barrier plus large-scale netting operations