Aug 28, 2022
It’s been said time and again, the National Park Service is not adequately funded. There’s just not enough money in the agency’s annual budgets to address all the needs across the National Park System. And those needs are many, from maintaining facilities, keeping wastewater treatment plans operating smoothly,...
Aug 21, 2022
As the inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance into Yellowstone National Park reminds us, the national parks are for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. They are wild, scenic, and historic spaces that belong to all of us. But are they in reality exclusive places with reservation systems that...
Aug 14, 2022
Alaska is a big state, and within that big state are 17 units of the National Park System spanning more than 100 million acres. Denali, Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords, Katmai, Wrangell-St. Elias are just some of those units. But if you want to visit the parks in Alaska, how do you decide which ones to explore?...
Aug 10, 2022
On the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, in an opening in the piney forest, stands a fire lookout built in the 1930s.
The Shadow Mountain Lookout is the only lookout remaining in the park. During a recent visit to Rocky Mountain, I followed the 5-mile-long trail to the lookout, where I ran into Barbara and...
Aug 7, 2022
Climate change is materializing in various ways across the National Park System. Houses have been falling into the Atlantic at Cape Hatteras National Seashore as a result of sea level rise and shifting of the barrier island, wildfires have been raging through Sequoia, Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic national parks, just...