William Henry Jackson memorialized his passage through Scotts Bluff with this painting/William Henry Jackson.
As most of you know, the National Parks Traveler is unsustainable, financially, and is planning to close its doors due to lack of funding. With that announcement spurring an outpouring of disappointment and some donations, we are in a last-ditch effort to see if there may be a way to avert the end.
Hanging in the balance is a small media organization that focuses its coverage on national parks and protected areas. There is no New York, Washington, or Los Angeles headquarters calling the shots on coverage. That fact, and the one that our focus is solely on national parks and protected areas, allows us to cover stories most other news outlets ignore or miss (until they see the coverage in the Traveler).
For instance, where else have you seen feature stories on William Henry Jackson and his 19th century ties to Scotts Bluff (today’s Scotts Bluff National Monument), on how the Homestead Act gave many previously enslaved Blacks land of their own, or on the groundwork that led to “An entirely new kind of national park,” today’s Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park?
The Traveler’s writers have ventured into a steamy, overlooked corner of Valles Caldera National Preserve, explored the “bone wars” history protected at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, revealed perhaps the greatest collection of sandstone arches in the eastern United States at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and opened the doors of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.
Of course, the Traveler also has reported on the Crown Jewels of the National Park System, but the little known, overlooked parks are gems in their own right with incredible stories that deserve to be told.
Your support of the Traveler allows the news organization not only to continue this coverage, but to expand it. Please help us achieve that goal with a monthly recurring donation of $10 or more to help ensure the Traveler's future.
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