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Getting American Youth More Involved in the National Parks is a Difficult Challenge and a Golden Opportunity

Nurturing broadly-based advocacy for the national parks has never been more critical, and promoting greater youth interest and visitation is a key consideration. Some progress is being made, but much more can be done.

Attendance Shortfalls at Steamtown National Historic Site Prompt Calls for Privatization

Visitation has plunged at Pennsylvania’s Steamtown National Historic Site, primarily because budget problems have prevented the park from meeting visitor expectations. Critics insist that only privatization can provide critical operational improvements and resuscitate Steamtown visitation.

Greening the National Parks: Environmental Achievement Awards Highlight Sustainable Design, Energy-Efficiency, and Recycling

To encourage eco-friendly operations, the National Park Service presents Environmental Achievement Awards each year to parks and concession companies that have excelled in incorporating high environmental standards into their operations. The 2007 awards were presented to Blue Ridge Parkway, Yosemite National Park, Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, and Xanterra Parks & Resorts.

Prime Location and Varied Habitat Help Make Point Reyes National Seashore a Biodiversity Treasure Trove

Point Reyes National Seashore plays a vital role in maintaining healthy biodiversity. A prime location and key physical factors have combined to make the park, which marks its 46th anniversary September 13, one of the six most biologically significant areas of the U.S. The variety of life found there is astonishing.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps

On Saturday, September 27, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host a day of activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps. At various times during 1933-1942, around 4,000 enrollees assigned to 22 CCC camps built roads, trails, fire towers, and other structures in the park.

Pilgrim Places: Civil War Battlefields, Historic Preservation, and America’s First National Military Parks, 1863-1900, Part VII

After Vicksburg’s establishment as a military park in 1899, it was not until 1917 that Congress authorized the next Civil War battlefield park at Kennesaw Mountain, northwest of Atlanta, where the Confederates stalled, if only for a while, the Union army’s southward march through Georgia. In the mid-1920s, other famous Civil War battlefields became military parks, including Petersburg and Fredericksburg, in Virginia.

Hurricane Ike Prompts FEMA to Task the National Park Service with a Search and Rescue Mission in Houston

With Hurricane Ike on the way and forecasters warning of potentially serious flooding in Houston-Galveston, FEMA requested National Park Service help. The NPS is supplying 21 two-person boat crews for the urban search and rescue task force. This is the fourth time this year that FEMA has tasked the NPS with a search and rescue mission.

Progress To the North: Canada Has "Extraordinary Year" In Protecting Parks and Wilderness

Imagine if the National Parks Conservation Association, or the Sierra Club, or The Wilderness Society reported that the U.S. government deserved credit for an "extraordinary year" in protecting the National Park System. That would be some news, wouldn't it?

The 9/11 Anniversary Draws Attention to the Flight 93 National Memorial, an Extraordinary Work in Progress

The seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has propelled Pennsylvania’s Flight 93 National Memorial into the national spotlight. This park is a work in progress. The temporary memorial that visitors see there now will be replaced with a permanent one of exceptional quality.