As people become more and more wedded to mobile devices, the National Park System is trying to keep up—and so are its friends. To engage visitors and potential supporters, national park friends groups and foundations are enticing the public with high technology. Here are some savvy ways that’s happening.

Wood stoves are great generators of heat, but some are not the most efficient in terms of dispersing that heat and when it comes to generation of particulate matter and smoke. To improve on that efficiency, the Wood Stove Decathlon will be coming to the National Mall this fall to see who can design and build the most innovative and affordable next generation wood stove.

Traveler's 2nd Annual Essential Friends + Gateways publication, a collaboration between the Traveler and a core group of national park foundations, cooperating associations, trusts, friends groups, and gateway communities, is aimed at enhancing and furthering the now nationally significant role of these organizations and entities in the preservation and enjoyment of our parks.

The nation's front yard -- the National Mall in Washington, D.C. -- is hammered pretty hard each year by more than 25 million visitors. To reduce their impact on the grassy expanse, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has directed the National Park Service to better manage the promenade that stretches from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.