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True Tales From the National Parks: Get Me Off Devils Tower!

In the fall of 1941 the Tower made the headlines of the nation's leading newspapers. This was brought about through the fool-hardy stunt of a professional parachutist named George Hopkins. Without the consent or knowledge of National Park Service officials, Hopkins, who held a number of United States and world's records for spectacular jumps, on October 1 parachuted from an airplane to the top of the Tower.

Each Generation Seems To Stamp Its Imprint on the National Parks

For those who see the national parks as being preserved time immemorial under gigantic bell jars, there is evidence that each succeeding generation makes an imprint or two on the parks. It wasn't too terribly long ago, for instance, that you climbed into the bleachers to watch the bear buffets in Yellowstone National Park, or that the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon National Park had separate dining areas for men and women.

New Video Commemorates USS Arizona And Those Who Died At Pearl Harbor

It's been nearly 67 years since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, yet it still is sharp in many Americans' minds. Spanning nearly all of the Pacific Ocean, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument preserves and interprets the stories and key events in the Pacific Theater during World War II. A new video sheds some light on the history of those who went down with the USS Arizona.

New “Roots in the River” Documentary Chronicles Congaree National Park History

South Carolina ETV’s new documentary “Roots in the River: The Story of Congaree National Park” will be aired in association with Ken Burns’ six-part documentary on America's national parks. A sneak preview of clips from both documentaries will be screened for the general public at the Congaree National Park visitor center on Sunday, September 20.

"Bad Times" Aren't Always All Bad – These Two Ideas for "Improving the Parks" Fizzled

In the early 1900s, there were plenty of ideas for ways the new agency called the National Park Service could "improve" the parks. Here are a couple whose time never came, perhaps in part due to the "bad times" during World War I and the Great Depression.

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