National Parks

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- Their Yosemite Valley tour was nearing its end, and the church ladies and gents from South Los Angeles had heard enough. Almost.

"He's been telling us stories he thinks we want to hear for two hours," said Ann Hale, 70, heaving a sigh of frustration from the back of the tram.

In fact, guide William Fontana had been regaling his listeners -- most of them white -- with stories about John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, about fur trappers and rock climbers.

"We're still waiting for at least a few words about Yosemite's African-American Buffalo Soldiers," Hale grumbled to a fellow passenger.

After filing off the tram, some women from Grace United Methodist Church surrounded Fontana on the sidewalk outside the Yosemite Lodge.

"Questions, ladies?" he asked.

FRESNO, Calif. -- Amid the pines and incense cedar in Sequoia National Park, the five o'clock rush hour often is limited to squirrels, mule deer and the occasional skunk crossing the road.

Visitors see spectacular 13,000-foot peaks, the largest trees on the planet and far fewer idling cars than at Yosemite National Park.

So the downside here seems unbelievable: Sequoia's Ash Mountain entrance this year was the worst smog trap in the country.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For the last five years, hundreds of workers with mules, chain saws and shovels have built new wooden foot bridges on Yosemite National Park's backcountry hiking trails. They have rerouted popular paths to protect the roots of ancient sequoias in the park's Mariposa Grove. And they have installed new signs, stone walls and rock staircases across the famed John Muir Trail.

The $13.5 million job, which was completed this month, is the largest trail restoration project in Yosemite's history. But most of the funding didn't come from taxpayers; $10.5 million was paid for with private donations.

LAYTON — A Layton man is the second hunter in less than two weeks to be issued a citation for illegally hunting in Grand Teton National Park.

CEDAR CITY — Gazing skyward from his backyard, longtime Southern Utah resident Abe Heck used to marvel at the Milky Way. Now he can’t even see it.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah environmental activist has been sentenced to two years in prison for derailing a 2008 government auction of oil and gas leases near two national parks.

WASHINGTON -- Go ahead, blame harsh weather or high gas prices for a marked reduction in visits to Yosemite and other national parks so far this year. The summer droves, though, are returning.

In other words, the time to really beat the crowds may have passed.

At traditionally popular parks from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Mount Rainier and the Great Smoky Mountains, visitation from January through May fell compared with last year, sometimes dramatically. The smaller crowds thrilled park visitors but worried the businesses that depend on them.