© valplibrary

As you are enjoying the holiday, check out some of the holidays reads from this season:

• Best National Parks in Winter
• The History of the National Christmas Tree
• National Christmas Tree and the Pageant of Peace 2009
• Best National Park Travel Books of 2009

Merry Christmas!

© Corey Ann via Flickr

Cuyahoga Valley National Park welcomes the new year with national speakers sharing stories of the natural and cultural world.

Programs will be held in January from 7-9 p.m. at Happy Days Lodge, 500 West Streetsboro Road in Peninsula. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for CVNPA members, and $3 for children ages 3-12.

• Jan. 8: Jerry Potter will present "The Sultana Sinking," outlining the worst maritime disaster in United States history.
• Jan. 12: Andrew Skurka will present "Short Trip 2,500 Miles and Counting," sharing adventures from the Alaska Four-Range, the Hayduke Trail, the Grand Canyon, the Sierra High Route and the Iceland Traverse.
• Jan. 22: Mammoth Cave Park Ranger Joy Medley Lyons will discuss the lives of slaves who served the Mammoth Cave Estate.

For more information,call 330-657-2909.

© Lauren Himiak

Call it a Christmas miracle. National Park Service officials have called off this winter's highly controversial deer kill at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

The plan called for sharpshooters to kill at least 1,500 deer in four years - 500 this winter, 500 the next, and between 250 and 300 each during the third and fourth years. Why? To eradicate 86 percent of a herd that park officials say has grown big and destructive.

Though it's called off for now, officials will continue to evaluate contractual matters and a pending lawsuit by two animal-rights groups. A federal judge is not scheduled to rule on the legality of the plan before May 31.

© cwwycoff1 via Flickr

The parks have been hit with another tragic accident. A 45-year-old woman died after slipping and falling ionto a stream at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Cindy Hill of Columbia,MD, slipped on a rock Monday morning and drifted about 20 yards in a stream. Her husband, Ron, grabbed her as she slipped but was unable to save her. Hill was found unresponsive downstream and pronounced dead later at a hospital.

Park officials said the couple had hiked about three miles from a ranger station when they stopped to take a photograph on rocks along the stream in the Greenbrier area of the park.