With the recent warm weather, Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park is flowing as if it were spring, but the still-leafless black oaks remind us that winter is not yet over…

Photo: National Park Service

On March 14, 1903, the efforts of citizen activists concerned about saving pelicans culminated in the establishment of the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island in Florida. For 110 years, the National Wildlife Refuge System has been charged with protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat.

The Refuge System now spans more than 150 million acres, with at least one wildlife refuge in every state and territory. Visit one — or show your support by volunteering or becoming a Refuge Friend.

This photo is of a young bobcat in San Bernard Refuge in Texas, and was the winning entry in the National Wildlife Refuge Association photo contest in 2012.

Photo: Keith Ramos

A sure sign of spring. The snow is melting on the sand dunes at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Photo: Patrick Myers, NPS

80 years ago this month, Saguaro became a National Monument and then later, a National Park.The park is famous for the giant saguaro, which is the universal symbol of the American west. These majestic plants, found only in a small portion of the United States, are protected by Saguaro National Park, to the east and west of the modern city of Tucson. Here you have a chance to see these enormous cacti, silhouetted by the beauty of a magnificent desert sunset.

Notice anything interesting about this picture?

Photo: National Park Service

Looks like people aren’t the only ones who enjoy the stunning sunsets at the Grand Canyon.

Photo: E. Whittaker, NPS

Bison frequent the area around Dragon’s Mouth Spring in Yellowstone to feed where it is too warm for the snow to accumulate.

Photo: National Park Service

Following a very dry January and February, the March snow survey results for Yosemite show snowpack at about 70% of average (with some new snow falling right now!) To get an idea of what 70% of average means, here’s a view from Mount Hoffmann taken last week by the Tuolumne Meadows winter rangers along with a great photo of Half Dome.

Photo: National Park Service

A Sun Dog is a ring of light that is sometimes visible around the sun . This happens because light is refracted through ice crystals in the atmosphere. We look for them throughout the winter months in Denali National Park.

Photo: National Park Service

Hundreds of Bald Eagles make the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge their home during winter months. The eagles congregate near open water snatching fish with their talons and soaring to to the treetops to eat their prey.

At 13.2 million acres which is bigger than the country of Switzerland, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve stretches from one of the tallest peaks in North America, Mount St. Elias (18,008) to the ocean. Yet within this wild landscape, people have been living off the land for centuries and still do today. The park is a rugged yet inviting place to experience your own adventure.

Photo: National Park Service