The National Parks Traveler is not part of the National Park Service. And there's a lot of other things we're not.

• We don't manage national parks, we tell you how they're being managed.
• We're not in the business of wildlife management, but we keep you informed on how species in the National Park System are being managed.
• We don't set concession fees in the national parks, but we tell you how you can speak out on proposed fee increases.
• We're not a travel service, but we tell you about national parks you might want to visit.
• We don't make National Park Service policy, but at times we question it.

There's a lot of things we're not. We don't build trails, and so we can't apply for grants that go towards that. We also don't mount ground-level endeavors to improve biodiversity, reduce pollution, or take innercity kids into the parks, so those grant opportunities are out of reach for the Traveler, too. We don't acquire land for the National Park System, so we can't seek out those grants.

What we are, though, is an editorially independent news organization that strives to keep you informed on all things national parks: park management, search-and-rescue missions, wildlife matters, travel information, lodging, crowding, wildfires, recreation.gov nightmares, and more.

By supporting the National Parks Traveler, you support your passion for the essential places in the world we all crave-- Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor-in-chief

To do that, though, we need your support. The National Parks Traveler covers stories that might otherwise go untold on a national basis. Such as the move by the National Park Service to more than double visitation at Cumberland Island National Seashore, how the lack of staffing at Mount Rainier National Park is cutting off Paradise outside of weekends, how parks are, or are not, dealing with crowding, and how the Park Service has grappled with invasive species. We even bring you feature-length articles about parks not named Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, or Acadia.

Sustain your trusted source of national park news. Click on the "Donate" button below by December 31 so the Traveler can land a $15,000 match of individual donations. Right now we're about $3,000 shy of that goal. We can land a bonus on top of that if we gain 100 new supporters. So far, we're about halfway towards that goal.

Support the Traveler so we can support you with the news surrounding the essential places that you treasure. You won't be disappointed.

And please pass this plea on to friends and colleagues who might not already know about the Traveler.