There is a need, a growing one at that, for day-to-day media coverage of national parks and protected areas.

While Yellowstone Forever, Friends of Acadia, Friends of the Smokies and other park friends groups do outstanding work in helping their parks overcome financial obstacles, National Parks Traveler is the only editorially independent media outlet closely following the parks every day of the year.

In the past month, we were first with the news that National Park Service employees were being offered a buyout, and that a retired Park Service superintendent, who earlier in his career ignored environmental regulations to allow Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to cut down trees on a scenic easement of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park to improve his view, was being brought back to the Park Service's leadership team.

We've also been adding short features on how to enjoy parks via our new A Day In The Park series. In the months ahead, we'll be bringing you a feature on Portugal's only national park, how to spend a long weekend at Mount Rainier National Park, and great dining options along the Natchez Trace Parkway. And there's much, much more to come from the parks.

But there are costs: $18,000 a year just for hosting and technical services. 

National Parks Traveler is a startup 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization. Help us get over the hurdles to ensure that daily parks coverage not only continues, but grows to bring you more and more robust content from the parks. You can donate online, or send a check to National Parks Traveler, P.O. Box 980452, Park City, UT, 84098.