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An image of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. By Thomas Moran, public domain.

It was back in 1967 when the Congress chartered the National Park Foundation to serve as the official charity of the National Park Service, and over the decades it has raised millions of dollars for the parks.
 
The Foundation is in the midst of its Campaign for National Parks, a billion-dollar campaign that has already raised $815 million. A big chunk of that total came from a recent $100 million grant that greatly moved the foundation closer to its billion-dollar goal.
 
To discuss the campaign, how the money is raised and where it’s being spent, we’re joined today by Will Shafroth, the president and CEO of the National Park Foundation.

0:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
0:12 Episode Intro with Kurt Repanshek
0:49 Flamingo - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of the Everglades
1:05 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
1:25 Smokies Life
1:48 Friends of Acadia
2:13 NPT Promo
2:29 Episode 291 - Campaign for the Parks
47:37 The Offering - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains
48:24 Episode Closing
48:42 Orange Tree Productions
49:14 Splitbeard Productions
49:25 National Parks Traveler footer

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National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 318 | Covering the Parks

There are more stories to be found in the National Park System than one could write in a lifetime. Or several lifetimes.

Sometimes those stories can be hard to spot. How many were aware of the factoid from Great Smoky Mountains National Park that Jennifer Bain dug up, that if you stacked up all of the park’s salamanders against its roughly 1,900 black bears, the salamanders would weigh more?

Talk about national park trivia.

March 23rd, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 317 | A Little Volcanic Levity

In this week’s podcast we thought we’d take a break from the unsettling news happening in and around our national parks and federal lands regarding park staff reductions and threats of reducing park boundaries to make way for mining.  

March 16th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 316 | National Park Service Upheaval

There is, across the country, some upheaval going on as the Trump administration works to reduce the size of the federal government. Whether you support that effort or oppose it, you can’t deny there’s not upheaval going on.

March 9th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 315 | Threatened Lands

Across the United States there are hundreds of millions of acres of public lands. Indeed, there are more than 500 million acres of federal lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service, just to name the three largest land managers in federal government.

March 2nd, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 314 | NPS Cast Aside

It was just over a week ago, on Valentine’s Day, that the Trump administration wiped 1,000 employees off the National Park Service staff without any apparent strategy other than that they were dispensable staff still on probation and so lacking any real protection for being fired without cause.

February 26th, 2025 Read More

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