Recent Stories
Kayaking through Biscayne mangroves
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — I haven’t been kayaking since I was 10 years old, when my family went on a road trip in which our first stop was a visit to Brevard Zoo in Central Florida. The zoo offers guided kayak tours that give guests an up-close view of the wildlife.Read More…
Everglades airboat tours beautiful but eerie
COOPERTOWN, Fla. — The swamp in the Everglades is like nothing I had ever seen before: It is both beautiful and eerie. It’s neither sea nor land; when gliding along in an airboat you feel like you’re floating. Each twist and turn the boat takes brings you to a differentRead More…
Bears, bison park’s most popular animals
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — E.O Wilson and David Quammen, along with countless other prominent ecologists, conservationists, and population geneticists have been trying to understand animal populations throughout history and help preserve animal populations today. What all the science seems to eventually point to is this: all efforts of conservation willRead More…
Park’s waterfalls popular with visitors
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont.—As the water cascaded hundreds of feet down the canyon all I could do was stand there in awe. While the crushing of the water echoed throughout, a grand sense of relaxation came over me. Visitors from all around stood along the railings taking photos and embracing theRead More…
Jetty walk at Biscayne park reveals bay life
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — “My favorite part of giving jetty walk tours is having the opportunity to meet all of the people that come from all over the world,” Biscayne National Park ranger Yeliza Sepulveda said. “In all honesty, I think I learn more from them than they learn from me.”Read More…
Travel to park worthwhile despite anxiety
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — The familiar feelings fastened to my bones and I held my breath as wheels scraped against concrete and ground shifted into air. I prayed that with each exhale, the restlessness, the panic, the thing would descend and dissolve into the night sky and not follow meRead More…
Colorado River named most endangered
The conservation group American Rivers released its annual list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers on April 7, 2015, and the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon topped the list. The significance of the Grand Canyon as one of the country’s most well known National Parks set it apart from theRead More…
Venom Program takes on Everglades exotics
The world was stunned by a photograph released by National Geographic in 2005 of a 13-foot Burmese python busted open after an unsettling meal. Protruding from its stomach was the body of a six-foot alligator. It frightened people living in South Florida to think there were giant snakes roaming theRead More…
Parks present dangers for unprepared
A national park, which can only be established by an act of the United States Congress, is a protected area that preserves the natural beauty, unique geological features and the endangered or exotic ecosystems. According to the National Park Service Web site, more than 292 million people have visited oneRead More…
Biscayne strives to add more visitors
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Biscayne National Park is the largest marine park in the U.S. It is a public park managed by the National Park Service that is located near Homestead and here. Portions of the park are an offshore barrier reef. A total of 95 percent of the park isRead More…
Sequoia home to wide range of animals
THREE RIVERS, Calif. — As you walk through a giant forest of solemn silence, the only sound is the one coming from the crunching leaves on the floor. Suddenly, you hear it. A twig cracks and you catch the slightest glimpse of a bird’s wings flying away. After that, backRead More…
Alcatraz escape remains fascinating mystery
SAN FRANCISCO –– “Go ahead, swim!” yelled Commandant Col. G. Maury Cralle to scheming Alcatraz inmates when he received word of a rumored mass escape in 1926. Cralle’s sarcastic encouragement forced dire reality to hit desperate Alcatraz inmates considering escape: it would take a one and a half mile swimRead More…