National Parks Service

Take a break from non-stop coronavirus news to learn about the U.S. National Parks Service and take in some breathtaking views.

A proposal before the Trump administration that food trucks, Wi-Fi and Amazon deliveries be allowed in campgrounds at national parks got a thumbs-down this week from some visitors at Yosemite National Park, NBC News reports. The idea comes as the Department of Interior considers recommendations from an advisory committee to modernize and privatize the operation of campgrounds, including adding running...

Built in 1932 by African American building contractor Nathan Thomas Seely, who received the donated land from his neighbor Panfilo Santangelo after he lost his home in early years of the Great Depression, the 533-square-foot home on 175 Grand Street in Westchester is on sale for $275,000, according to the realtor’s website.

One of the most unique properties in Westchester County is up for sale for $275,000 — though don’t expect to be able to stretch out too much in the 10-foot-wide home. NBC 4 New York’s Rana Novini reports.

Visitors to the Grand Canyon on Thursday appeared unphased by a series of recent deaths at the national park, NBC News reported. Two days after a 69-year-old died in a 200-foot fall from the South Rim, visitors continued edging as close as possible. For an Instagram gag, one even stood on a thin rock ledge below the edge to make...

Police in a small northern Minnesota community have been taking some strange calls about birds that seem to be intoxicated. Citizens in Gilbert on the state’s Iron Range have reported the birds flying into windows, cars and acting confused. In a cheeky Facebook message, the police department says there’s an easy explanation: The birds are ingesting berries that have fermented...

A well known, record-holding rock climber and East Bay resident spent the night on the wall of El Capitan at Yosemite National Park after he fell and was hung upside down Thursday afternoon. Rescue crews with a helicopter worked to extricate Hans Florine, 53, off the wall Friday morning and eventually took him to a hospital in Fresno, where he...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reopened the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island sites Monday, despite the federal government shutdown. Katherine Creag reports.

New York state will step in to reopen the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on Monday, despite the federal government shutdown, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

The huddled masses will have to wait. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island closed to visitors on Saturday due to the government shutdown.

The tri-state saw the immediate impacts of the federal government’s shutdown on Saturday, including the closure of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Wale Aliyu reports.

Officials in South Africa are searching for five lions that are believed to have escaped from Kruger National Park, the country’s biggest wildlife reserve. The national parks service said Tuesday that a resident spotted the lions on a road in Komatipoort, a town near the park, on Monday morning. Parks spokesman Rey Thakhuli says the search is difficult because the...

President Donald Trump donated his first salary to the National Parks Service, NBC News reported. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was presented the President’s first quarter salary—which totaled $78,333—at the beginning of Monday’s White House Press Briefing. The check included “every penny the president received from the first quarter”since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. Though the donation...

Experts say a skull nearly auctioned off as that of a Civil War soldier killed at Gettysburg is actually more than 700 years old and from the Southwestern U.S.