Your great interest in our national parks has made National Parks Traveler the top-ranked, editorially independent site on the Internet for dedicated daily coverage of the parks. Now we want to give you a more active voice in that coverage, and reward you for your ongoing support of the Traveler.

Over the years we'™ve offered you armchair travelogues on navigating Glacier Bay National Park by 'œmothership,' hard news items on congressional oversight of the parks and search-and-rescue missions, features on how to enjoy the parks with your kids, and even stories that question how the parks are being managed.

As more and more readers like you shift your media preferences away from books, magazines, and newspapers and seek online sources with targeted content that addresses your interests, answers your questions, and engages you, we want to expand and enhance our coverage to meet your needs and desires. And to accomplish that mission, we want you to take a more active role by becoming a member of the Traveler community.

Our goal?

To build a stronger, better informed community for the parks through more extensive and insightful coverage into this wondrous system that protects and preserves America'™s landscapes, history, and cultures.

If you look forward each day to seeing what the Traveler is reporting, if you value independent, nonpartisan journalism, believe there's a need for more expansive coverage of the national parks, coverage that goes far beyond aggregation and sound bites, then we need and want your support as a member.

We want you regardless of whether you agree with the positions we take, for we fervently believe that only through the constructive discussion of divergent and diverse views can we all come to see things from another perspective.

We need your help so we can continue bringing you original stories and photographs from around the National Park System, such as Rebecca Latson's articles from Lake Clark and Katmai national parks. Rebecca Latson photo.

All the content that you'™ve come to enjoy will continue to be free for all. But join our membership ranks for $9.95 a year -- 19 cents a week! --  and you'™ll have access to forums to post, and answer, questions pertaining to the parks in general, lodging, dining, photography, wildlife and more. We'™ll seek your support in 'œcrowd-sourcing' guides via National Parks Travelers'™ Parkipedia to the national parks, guides that with your input will become the most authoritative available.

And while that $9.95 is not tax deductible, and we can't send you a snazzy Traveler ball cap or T-shirt, that $9.95 membership fee will pay for itself immediately through savings on lodgings, book purchases, trips and more.

To thank you for your support, several businesses and organizations are working with us to provide members-only discounts on lodging, books, and travel in the parks. 

Help us grow the national parks community. Become an active voice and contributor to a rich resource for exploring, and enjoying, the national parks.

To learn more about the benefits waiting for you, visit this page.