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Researchers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park are inviting people to volunteer as Citizen Scientists from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday to map locations of ash trees in the park.

A jacket owned by Red Cloud. A dress worn by the Sioux war chief’s wife. Bear skin and lion skin rugs owned by Theodore Roosevelt. George Washington’s tent. John Brown’s Bible. Leather steamer trunks of immigrants passing through Ellis Island.

-->With winter beginning to grip Rocky Mountain National Park, National Park Service researchers are beginning a five-month survey of the park's elk population, which has been decreasing during the past decade or so.

Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in “hot spots” of forest fertility around the kills, causing rapid microbial and fungal growth that provide increased nutrients for plants in the area.

Public fascination with one of the Cold War's most fearsome relics, the Minuteman Missile, could mean a new tourist stop in South Dakota.Sen. Tim Johnson introduced a bill Wednesday that would transfer 25 acres of National Forest Service land to the National Park Service for a new visitors center to accommodate the growing crowds of people who want to see the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in western South Dakota.The center would replace the vistiors center off exit 131 on Interstate 90 near Cactus Flats in Jackson County.

A study says increasing nitrogen pollution is turning algae in Rocky Mountain National Park's alpine lakes into junk food for fish. Arizona State University professor James Elser, the study's lead author, says the effect of airborne nitrogen on once-pristine lakes in the park is greater than previously believed. The nitrogen comes from vehicle exhaust, fertilizer used on farms and livestock feed lots.

Hurricane Ridge, high in the mountains above Port Angeles, Wash., will be open Friday through Sunday this winter, plus school holidays, for winter recreation.Here are the details about the Hurricane Ridge winter season.Hurricane Ridge RoadBarring heavy snows or winter storms, the Hurricane Ridge Road is scheduledto be open 9 a.m. to dusk, Friday through Sunday, Nov. 20, throughMarch 28.  The road will be closed Monday through Thursday during the

A Nevada man has become the first person to be found guilty of violating regulations adopted to prevent the spread of invasive mussels at Lake Powell. Jonny Ward has been ordered by a federal magistrate to pay a $2,500 fine for failing to have his boat inspected for quagga mussels before launching it on the lake.

Contractors have almost finished initial cleanup work at several sites around Yellowstone National Park where leaky underground fuel tanks had contaminated soil and groundwater over the past few decades.Some of the polluted sites are near pristine waters, and while they did not pose an immediate threat to drinking water, it is important that they be cleaned up, said Jim Evanoff, environmental protection specialist for the park.

A new federal law allows Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to decide whether a Marin County oyster farm can continue operations within the Point Reyes National Seashore after its permit expires in 2012. The $32.2 billion appropriations bill, which President Obama signed into law Friday, included the provision at the request of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a longtime supporter of the Drakes Bay Oyster Co.

It was Christmas and a birthday rolled into one for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Congress on Thursday approved $4 million to buy 635 undeveloped acres at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, eliminating one of the biggest threats to the 33,000-acre federal park.

As a little girl, Cathy Beeler loved playing with cap guns."I even got busted by my mom for sneaking one into a little pink purse and taking it to church when I was about 4 years old," Beeler said. "My father condoned it all until I was about 9 or 10, when he threw them all in the trash, insisting that I put away the boy toys and learn to be more of a lady."Today, Beeler is chief of Monocacy National Battlefield's Resource Education and Visitor Services, a position that puts her in charge of some of the world's largest guns. She's also an expert gunpowder handler.

Scientists from around the country found more than 1,200 species of plants and animals in Yellowstone National Park in a 24-hour research marathon in late August. The park's first BioBlitz has documented the species with taxonomic and DNA experts still analyzing lab results, which "will surely increase our numbers,'' said organizer Kayhan Ostovar, an assistant professor of environmental science at Rocky Mountain College. Some of the finds included new species, such as the tiger beetle, previously undocumented in the park, Ostovar said.

Time is running out on a Giles County outfitter's attempt to gain support to federally protect a section of the New River. Britt Stoudenmire, who with his wife, Leigh, runs New River Outdoor Co. in Pembroke, said he hopes regional support will help land a National Wild and Scenic River designation for a 19.3-mile stretch of the river from Glen Lyn to Bluestone Lake in West Virginia. "This is the biggest thing that could ever happen to the river," Stoudenmire said.

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey announced Monday he has introduced a bill that could pave the way to inclusion of the Hudson River Valley in the National Park Service system, giving the region access to “significant” amounts of federal money and increased attention.The bill would authorize the park service to conduct a study to determine if the area could benefit from its programs, said Hinchey, D-Hurley. He said the study could take as long as 24 months to complete.