The departure of George and Laura Bush from Washington left a hole at the top of the National Park Foundation.

Laura Bush, you see, had been the foundation's honorary chairperson. In fact, she actually approached the foundation about serving in that role. In recent years we've heard quite a bit about Mrs. Bush and her love for the national parks, about how she had a long tradition of going hiking with friends in a national park just about every year.

Mrs. Bush used her role as First Lady to bring attention to the parks in a number of ways. She frequently spoke out in favor of the Junior Ranger Program, traveled to Zion National Park just to rededicate the park's nature center, and played a key role at the foundation's Leadership Summit on national park philanthropy and partnerships.

And, of course, Mrs. Bush was behind the decision in 2007 to have the White House Christmas tree decorated with ornaments designed with scenes from across the National Park System.

Will Mrs. Obama follow Mrs. Bush as honorary chair of the foundation? That's hard to say at this point, but it'd certainly be nice to have another parks champion who is that close to the president.

By the way, the National Park Foundation was established by Congress in 1967. It is still the only organization engaged in national grant making to support the national parks. NPF raises private funds (there being no federal appropriations) and uses them to make strategic grants, create innovative partnerships, and increase public awareness of parks and park programs. The list of corporate donors is headed by heavy hitters like American Airlines, Ford Motor Company, and Unilever, but individual contributions go a long way too.