January 3rd:

Acadia National Park News:
Lighthouse to be featured on Maine quarter
Maine’s Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse has been chosen to appear on a new line of quarters featuring parks, national forests and historic sites.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/nationa...position=recent
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Denali National Park News:
Denali National Park Lowering Entry Fee
The entrance fee at Denali National Park is changing for 2012. Effective immediately, the National Park service will only collect a $10 per person entry fee. The pass is good for 7 days. The agency is eliminating a former $20 vehicle fee. Denali National Park spokeswoman Kris Fister says the change resulted from a national audit.
http://www.alaskapublic.org/2012/01/02/denali-national-park-lowering-entry-fee/
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Glacier National Park News:
Glacier releases assessment for fish barrier removal, bridge replacement
Glacier National Park officials announce the availability of the Rose Creek fish barrier removal and bridge replacement environmental assessment for public review and comment. Comments are due Jan. 23.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-reg...l#ixzz1iQI50sEq
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Great Smoky Mountain National Park News:
15 years of work in Smokies in danger
Funding threatens project that has found about 915 new species
Vivid butterflies, a taxidermied baby bear and a passenger pigeon — the now extinct namesake of Pigeon Forge — are just some of the organisms housed at Twin Creeks Science and Education Center in Gatlinburg, Tenn.
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20120103/NEWS/301030026/15-years-work-Smokies-danger?odyssey=nav|head
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Misc. National Park News:
12-year-old’s unique wildlife business helps save polar bears (Editor's note - no, it is not really about the NPs, but they are mentioned and it is a really nice story).
Hannah Isenhart has gotten up close and personal with black bears, photographing several roaming around Yellowstone National Park.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/...FAYP_story.html

Rangers' jobs increasingly dangerous
On any given day, a national park ranger may help fight a wildfire, set up signs at a snowshoe area, help rescue a stranded climber or teach her colleagues emergency medicine. But she also may assist a fellow cop who is chasing a heavily armed suspect up a remote icy road in one of the nation's 397 national parks.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017147696_parkpatrol03m.html
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Mount Rainier National Park News:
Police Confirm Body Found is Gunman Sought in Mount Rainier National Park Ranger Shooting
Authorities have confirmed Monday afternoon that a body found on the slopes of Mount Rainier National Park was that of an Iraq War veteran suspected in the slaying of a park ranger.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/02/pol.../#ixzz1iQI8NuRF
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Yellowstone (and Grand Teton) National Park News:
Study says that with more wolves and fewer elk, trees rebounding in portions of Yellowstone
The return of gray wolves has dramatically altered the landscape in portions of Yellowstone National Park, as new trees take root in areas where the predators have curbed the size of foraging elk herds, according to scientists in a new study.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/...89XP_story.html

Yellowstone open to snowmobiles
Sylvan Pass reopened after avalanche danger
Two weeks after Yellowstone opened for the winter season, enough snow has fallen to allow snowmobile and snow coach travel. But the heavy snowfall and strong winds increased the danger of avalanches on steep slopes.
http://www.powelltribune.com/news/item/9149-yellowstone-open-to-snowmobiles
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