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National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 291 | Campaign for the Parks

An image of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. By Thomas Moran, public domain.

It was back in 1967 when the Congress chartered the National Park Foundation to serve as the official charity of the National Park Service, and over the decades it has raised millions of dollars for the parks.
 
The Foundation is in the midst of its Campaign for National Parks, a billion-dollar campaign that has already raised $815 million. A big chunk of that total came from a recent $100 million grant that greatly moved the foundation closer to its billion-dollar goal.
 

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 289 | Climate Change Impacts on Acadia

Sunrise over the coastline at Acadia National Park in Maine. Interior Department photo.

From Maine to Florida, coastal units of the National Park System are being impacted in various ways by the changing climate. Some of the impacts affect wildlife, some natural resources, and some the human populations who either live in or come to visit these beautiful areas.
 
At the National Parks Traveler. We’ve been working on a series of stories looking at these changes that are showing up.
 

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 288 | Lassen Peak's Volcanics

Photo: 1914 eruption, from William Holmes Spaulding Photograph Collection: Photographic postcard of Lassen Peak in eruption.

When you hear the word volcano, where in the world do you think of? Mount Vesuvious in Italy? Mount Fuji in Japan? Maybe Cotopaxi in Ecuador? Do you ever think of Lassen Peak?
 
The National Park System is full of volcanoes. Some active, some dormant, some extinct. They all have fascinating stories to tell. 
 
There was a series of eruptions of Lassen Peak in Northern California between 1914 and 1917, with the 1915 eruption largely playing a role in the establishment of Lassen Volcanic National Park. 

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 287 | Great American Outdoors Act Reauthorization

Workers fix broken pipes at Death Valley National Park. NPS photo.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been four years since Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act and President Trump signed it into law. Under that legislation, the National Park Service has been receiving $1.3 billion a year to pay for tackling the National Park System’s maintenance backlog.

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 286 | Save the Manatee

A manatee floating underwater with a school of fish below it. USFWS photo.

Manatees are some of the most unusual looking wildlife creatures that you’ll find in coastal units of the National Park System, places like Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park and Cumberland Island National Seashore. 

They are huge – the largest on record reportedly tipped the scales at 3500 pounds and was 13 feet long – and rather bulbous looking. 

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 283 | Coastal Climate Change Impacts

Salt marsh at Cumberland Island National Seashore. NPS Photo.

Along 1,600 miles of the Eastern Seaboard, from Maine to Florida, sea level rise, subsidence, and more potent storms are challenging the National Park Service to figure out how best to protect wildlife and their habitats, as well as historic structures, archaeological sites, modern infrastructure, landscapes, and, of course, visitors.

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