Pledge to Fledge: Take a friend birding in a national park of your choice.

More than a quarter-million-dollars worth of grants have been distributed to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic national parks from Washington's National Park Fund, which has contributed more than $1.4 million to the parks during the past five years.

It's difficult to miss them on the National Mall: They're dressed in yellow shirts and khaki pants or shorts, wear ball caps with the National Park Service and Trust for the National Mall logos, and heft backpacks filled with information and, if you're thirsty, water.

Imagine if more than a third of the 397 units of the National Park System had to shut down because the Park Service didn't have the money to operate them. That's one example the National Parks Conservation Association is using to illustrate the threat of impending budget cuts on the agency.