National parks are supposed to provide a place of solace, reflection, observing beauty, learning, peace and recreation. Their beauty and resources, however, have also attracted plunders, developers and the jealous glances of greedy government officials. The National Park Service has responsibility for administering the 378 diverse units comprising 83.4 million acres of land. The NPS has done a good job in an extremely difficult mission. The book brings together the key issues threatening American national parks while at the same time shedding light on specific parks. Contents: Preface; National Parks Management and Recreation; National Park System: Establishing New Units; Regional Haze: EPA's Proposal to Improve Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas; State Operation of National Parks During Government Budgetary Shutdowns?; New World Gold Mine and Yellowstone National Parks; Mining in National Parks and Wilderness Area: Policy, Rules, Activity; World Heritage Convention and U.S. National Parks; National Park Service: Efforts Underway to Address its Maintenance Backlog; National Park Service: Actions Needed to Improve Travel Cost Management; Index.

The first scholarly study of winter use in any national park examines the history of the conflict between the National Park Service and various interest groups over snowmobile use in Yellowstone--a highly-politicized, value-driven battle that has taken a serious toll on the NPS's ability to protect the park.