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Review: George Melendez Wright: The Fight For Wildlife And Wilderness In National Parks

In the beginning, national parks were mostly about scenery — not entirely because some early parks like Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, and Crater Lake featured unusual marvels of the natural world. But the focus was on scenic beauty and providing opportunities for visitors to enjoy it. From those earliest days wildlife, particularly big critters like bears and elk, were one of the attractions in some parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite where they were on “display” at, for instance, the Yellowstone garbage dumps. Wildlife protection was an afterthought if a thought at all in the establishment and management of national parks. George Melendez Wright changed this, at least for a while.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bookstores Carrying New Children’s Title To Help Protect Wildlife

As days lengthen and temperatures rise, black bears in national parks all across the country begin to move around the forest in search of insects, nuts, and berries. But they also venture beyond the parks’ boundaries, making their way into gateway communities to look for food. In cities and towns surrounding popular destinations like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this situation can pose a serious threat to bears and humans alike — increasing the need to educate park visitors of all ages on proper bear etiquette and food storage practices.

Photography In The National Parks: Low-Light Compositions Indoors And Out

Every photo you capture of your experience in a national park fleshes out that visit for yourself and your viewing audience. That national park photo story should include a few low-light shots of your explorations through a shadowy forest interior, or around the spacious lobby of a rustic park lodge, or gazing skyward toward the Milky Way on a clear, moonless night outdoors.