National Parks Traveler

The National Park System is a big place...the Traveler needs your help so we can more fully cover it/Rebecca Latson

Why The National Parks Traveler Needs Your Support

By Kurt Repanshek

We've been making a concerted effort to gain your financial support, and this is why we need it:

• Staffing. TheTraveler attracts a global audience of ~3 million readers and listeners a year...with just one full-time staffer who oversees editorial duties, podcasting, marketing, IT coordination, and fundraising. The Traveler's popularity has resulted in numerous groups seeking coverage, with many others pointing to issues in the parks that need coverage. One person cannot possibly answer all those needs. We need to build a small staff of three or four journalists, a team that will enable the Traveler to greatly expand its coverage practically overnight.
• Science in the national parks. You should have a regular diet of science stories from the National Park System, stories that explain the impacts of climate change on park landscapes, that follow the latest research into flora and fauna, that help you full understand and appreciate the wonders of the parks, and that explain how natural resources in the parks are being impacted -- or being restored into fully functioning, healthy ecosystems. Stories that touch on archaeology, paleontology, sociology, biological diversity, geology and all the other "ologies."
• The business of national parks. The Traveler long has reported on funding issues relating to the National Park Service and operating the National Park System, but that's just one aspect of the economic side of the parks. Gateway towns, lodging and dining concessions, special use permit holders, and more players have an economic interest in parks. You need to be kept informed on those interests. 
• Being a watchdog. How Congress oversees the National Park Service, how the National Park Service manages the parks, and how outside interests put pressure on those two entities, needs to be closely monitored. The parks belong to you, and you need this information.
• America's Best Idea. There are more than 400 units in the National Park System -- 423 at last count -- and the Traveler needs to provide you with more in-depth coverage from as many parks as possible on a regular basis, coverage that goes beyond campground openings and closings. Our journalists need the resources to get on the ground and report not just from the best-known parks but from many more of the far-flung but significant places in the National Park System.

Without your support, we cannot fulfill these goals. Donate today.