Wilderness, and its occupants, slowly are vanishing. How we explore national parks determines whether we can preserve both.

A 100 percent increase in camping fees is being proposed for Point Reyes National Seashore in California. Park staff say the increases are needed to enable the park to better maintain facilities, enhance visitor services, and provide for better resource protection.

"In the beginning, it was the root, the tree, the bark that taught my ancestors,” says Todd Labrador as he splits a long spruce root into sinewy twine used to stitch birchbark onto a canoe frame. Each summer, Labrador builds a birchbark canoe at a shelter in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in Nova Scotia. This particular canoe was nearing completion in August 2019 when I signed up for a one-day workshop with Labrador, keen to say I had a hand in building this traditional and oh so Canadian craft. “We don’t have the elders to teach a lot of these things anymore, but the material will teach you how, if you listen to it.”

Insufficient federal funding and too many crowds are prompting the staff at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to propose higher fees for camping, call for a permit system for backcountry camping, and require reservations for hiking up Old Rag.