Archives: Blog

  With the recent (and rare) good news on the progress of bills set to address the deferred maintenance and the continued funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), we wanted to share some background and the recent updates regarding these two critical issues. The LWCF: What Is It and Why Do We

  9/29/20 Sheridan Steele has seen and done a lot of things over his 38-year career with the National Park Service (NPS). From winter research trips to bear dens to hosting presidents and dignitaries, Steele had a truly remarkable run. He documents his unique experiences in his new memoir, From Bear Dens to the Oval

  August 27, 2020 Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a sprawling 33,000-acre park in northeastern Ohio. Its diverse resources range from waterfalls and winding trails to historic structures such farmhouses and covered bridges. The park works closely with numerous partner groups that help to operate a railroad, preserve the stories of the canal, and connect

  July 29, 2020 UPDATE: 12/21/2020 The Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools Study Act has passed the Senate! This is a critical step in establishing the first National Historical Park to honor the legacy of a Jewish American and preserve the stories and accomplishments of the Rosenwald Schools. Julius Rosenwald was born in Springfield, Illinois, in

  May 26, 2020 Great Basin National Park is one of the most remote parks in the National Park System. But visitors who make the trip are rewarded by beautiful scenery and some of the most stunning dark skies in the country. And this incredible national park has certainly benefited from the passion and dedication

  May 4, 2020 Welcome back to our Focus on Friends series! This time around, we’re turning the spotlight on Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP), a group that has been a partner of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I’m excited to share this post because it provides us an opportunity to explore a little

  March 2, 2020 This week’s post in our Focus on Friends series gives us a broad perspective on the support that organizations can provide national parks. We reached out to the National Park Trust (NPT) after reading about their incredible success at Valles Caldera National Preserve. As you may have seen in a recent Weekly

  January 22, 2020 Given all the hype surrounding the impeachment trial of President Trump, it’s prudent not to lose sight of the many other issues of concern that should demand our attention and response. Our national parks and public lands, for example, continue to fall victim to the continued attacks that have been levied

  January 16, 2020 Welcome back to our Focus on Friends series! Our first installment in the series for 2020 highlights an incredible group, The Harpers Ferry Park Association. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Catherine Baldau, the Association’s Executive Director. Cathy and her family relocated to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 2001.

  November 21, 2019 It has been a little quiet on the blog front recently, so I just wanted to jump on and post a quick update. We are working overtime on numerous actions and items as 2019 reaches the homestretch. Several members of our Executive Council have met with editorial boards at newspapers from

  October 30, 2019 “Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they sat spinning by the fire, with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted

  Welcome to the second issue of our Focus on Friends series. We’re keeping the ball rolling, highlighting an incredible group who supports several national parks in southeast Utah… The Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks (FOACP) is a friends group that works with the NPS Southeast Utah Group (SEUG), made up of Arches and

  September 26, 2019 There’s nothing like September in D.C. The crisp fall air, the cool morning breeze… just kidding. September in Washington is terrible. At least it was a few weeks ago when several of us ventured to our nation’s capital to walk the corridors of power and meet with our members of Congress.

  September 16, 2019 The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles long and connects Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The Parkway was the first national rural parkway intended to be a leisure-type driving experience. It is celebrated around the world as a roadway that “lies easily”

  August 11, 2019 Every year, Congress recesses for the month of August. This time of year allows members of Congress to head back to their home states and meet with constituents. They want to hear from residents (i.e., constituents) about issues that matter to them. For many of us at the Coalition, these are

  August 1, 2019 School’s out for summer… and so is Congress. August recess has officially commenced, and our Congressional representatives are heading back to their home districts until the middle of September. Life slows down in Washington, D.C., but it picks up for those members in their respective home states. Members of Congress want

  A friend of mine (Annie) just returned from a trip to Savannah, Georgia. Annie and her husband loved the graceful architecture, gorgeous green spaces, and the creative and fresh meals they enjoyed at restaurants throughout the city. But the other experience they raved about? Their visit to an historic home and the incredible guide

  Welcome to the inaugural issue of our Focus on Friends blog series. We are truly excited to bring you this guest blog post by Emilee Martell, an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the St. Croix River Association. The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway is not a well-known national park. I can say this with confidence

  June 11, 2019 The arrival of June is a goldmine for outdoor enthusiasts. Not only has June been christened Great Outdoors month, June is also known as National Camping month. I suppose the two go hand-in-hand (unless you subscribe to the whole “camping out in the living room” model), though it appears that National Camping

  5/30/2019 Cue the music… school’s out for summer and we’ve officially entered vacation season. Families across the country are planning their adventures, booking flights and mapping out road trips. Some hit the beach. Others the amusement park. But millions of people will visit national parks this summer, to camp and hike, swim and kayak…

  May 14, 2019 There’s been some movement on appropriations for fiscal year 2020 (FY20) in recent days. Last week, Secretary Bernhardt testified before the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. But, as E&E News reported, his testimony “failed to satisfy Democrats’ concerns over his ethics, an expensive proposed reorganization and his department’s approach toward climate change.”

  May 10, 2019 Mikah Meyer recently wrapped up an extraordinary journey; he visited all 419 units of the national park service in a three-year span. Meyer’s odyssey was a tribute to this father, a lover of road trips who died of cancer. Meyer not only wanted to pay tribute to his father but encourage

  April 3, 2019 The Coalition has come a long way since its inception in 2003. What was the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees has become the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. Our organization now welcomes current national park service employees, in addition to retired and former members of the NPS workforce. And

  February 26, 2019 The recent government shutdown continues to have far-reaching impacts on our national parks and national park service employees. And it continues to impact the operation of the federal government. Though it’s nearly March, the FY 2019 appropriations bill just went into effect, and the administration is delayed in releasing their budget

  2/8/19 “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson The damage assessment from the recent government shutdown is just beginning. We’ve read about people who treated our irreplaceable resources terribly, damaging delicate vegetation, dumping waste, and leaving graffiti. The