Arizona lawmakers and advocates are condemning proposed fee increases at the Grand Canyon and 16 other parks, a move the National Park Service said is badly needed to fund billions of dollars in backlogged maintenance projects.

Democratic senators criticized a National Park Service plan to impose steep increases in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone and Zion, calling the proposed rates “arbitrary and unjustifiable.”

It may not be surprising that an “aquatic desert” turtle faces long odds in life, but environmentalists and biologists still welcomed this week’s endangered species designation for the Sonoyta mud turtle.

Visiting the Grand Canyon and other national parks could get a little pricier. The National Park Service said 115 of its 401 units plan to seek public comment on entrance fees that could go up starting next year.

A Grand Canyon concessionaire has sued the National Park Service, saying a new South Rim services contract gives an unfair advantage to a competitor and would result in a money-losing operation.

A new report shows that visitors to Arizona's national parks last year spent more than $700 million.

With their natural beauty and protected environments, the Grand Canyon and other national parks in the West would seem removed from having mercury in their streams and rivers.

The National Park Service has proposed making 17 areas of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area available for off-highway vehicle use, saying the plan would help attract a wider range of park users.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service is not interested in coming up with plans to let states pay to keep parks open should another government shutdown occur, a service official testified Thursday to a House subcommittee.

Officials say the government shutdown cost Grand Canyon National Park $19 million in lost tourism revenue.