How's The Traveler Doing In Keeping You Abreast of Life and Times in the National Parks?
The just-completed year of 2009 was a busy one for the Traveler, as our output grew exponentially compared to 2008. It also was heavy in reader traffic, as nearly 1 million stopped by to see what was going on in the national parks. That readership was more than twice what we counted in 2008, and we'd like to thank those who stopped by in 2009 for taking the time to visit and hope you'll both bookmark the Traveler and encourage your friends to check us out.
For all of 2009, we posted 1,619 articles, or roughly four on an average day. That total was an increase of nearly 83 percent over 2008, when there were 887 articles posted.
Understandably, quantity isn't always an indicator of overall quality, and reading tastes differ greatly in terms of what you'd like to see on the Traveler. While there certainly is an audience interested in some of the more heavily news-oriented posts surrounding the managing of the national parks and the National Park Service, we recognize that many readers are more interested in learning about what they can do in the parks or testing their brains on Bob's quizzes and puzzlers or chuckling over Jim's anecdotes from his 30 years rangering in the parks.
So, where will we head in 2010? We hope to offer a redesigned Traveler that is a bit crisper appearing and somewhat easier to navigate. We also plan to bolster our travel-related coverage of the parks, delve more into the natural and cultural history of the parks, and, hopefully, integrate more multi-media content in that regard.
To those in the National Park Service reading this, please keep us in mind with what's going on in your parks. While we receive a number of emailed releases from a handful of parks, and take RSS feeds from about a dozen or so, we'd like to hear from more parks, particularly with news of tours such as the one at Petersburg National Battlefield that we highlighted on Sunday and monthly activity calendars such as the one from Saguaro National Park that we posted today.
We'll also continue to leave the door open to guest columnists. We'd love to hear from park superintendents who have something to say, whether it focuses on a unique aspect of their parks or tips visitors can use in exploring their parks; to friends groups that want to explain their latest campaign; folks such as Dr. Tyler Nordgren, an astronomer and associate professor of physics at the University of Redlands in California, who has written a book about dark skies over national parks, or; even our elected politicians who have something to say about the national parks or National Park Service. And we're always looking for new voices to add to the Traveler (although there currently is no budget to afford them other than "thanks!" and a great and growing community to share your experiences with.)
If you want to take us up on this offer, simply use the "contact us" link in the Visitor Center box in the upper right-hand column.
To our readers, we hope we continue to meet your expectations and, as always, remain open to suggestions and comments regarding our coverage. What do you like, what don't you like? What type of stories would you like to see more of?
We also encourage you to check out our sponsors, as they provide some of the means that enable us to bring you a daily dose of commentary, news, and life in America's parks.
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Comments
Great job so far. Keep up the good work!
My wife and I enjoy nothing more than a long day hike in most of our National Parks from coast to coast. We are well travelled and most familiar with the problems some of our most precious parks are facing. We have been NPF members for many years and support their usually useful agenda. Thanks for your web site and it's entertaining and informative news. We are daily readers and we are very happy that readership has doubled in the last year, providing those that would have not known about both the challenges and legislation affecting our NATIONAL TREASURES.
Largely due to your articles, we have visited numerous National Parks we might not have otherwise visited at this time. We've also done new and different things in the parks (ie snowhoeing) that we've not done before - again, due in part to your articles and the posts of readers. I read the Traveler every day and have learned so much about our National Parks. Thank you!!!
I discovered NP Traveler purely by accident about a year ago. (I thought I was clicking into the National Geographic TRAVELER Magazine.) Now I have to jump on and take a look every morning or my day's simply not complete.
You're doing a wonderful job! Thank you very, very much. It's a shame this excellent website isn't better advertised in some way so more people could take advantage of it.
Am I correct in thinking this is something produced entirely by volunteer help without pay to anyone? It certainly shows a tremendous amount of dedication.
This is obviously a labor of love and I hope that feeling continues for a very long time. Please keep doing a wonderful job NPT!!
Lee, I'm afraid we have no budget for advertising or any help other than volunteer, though we're trying to change that. You can help us by spreading the word to family, friends, and strangers you meet in the parks!
Fred, great to hear from you again. Hope all's well.
Kurt, Jim, Bob, and all other NPT volunteers, thank you very much for all you have done to bring a wide variety of issues associated with protecting, preserving and enjoying our national parks to the online public.
Often, your articles have been of interest to those of us who have been, or are currently, members of the National Park Service. I frequently find the online commentary as interesting as the articles themselves. You have done the public and employees of the NPS a great service with your volunteer efforts.
Thank you too for continuing to feature articles that promote the value of a dark and starry night above our national parks (where curious minds and the celestial heavens collide).
Owen Hoffman
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date. Starting in Charleston, SC we logged 9,000 miles during a six week span the summer of 2008 visiting national parks throughout the west and southwest. We will make a similar trip the summer of 2010 and will continue to monitor your site daily for tips and good stories. Many thanks for the good work!
I think you folks do a great job. Of all the RSS feeds I get, NPT is the only one where I consistently read every post.
And I have to commend you on your production. It's not easy making fresh content! Anyone (including, it would seem, 95% of the bloggers out there) can cut-and-paste a chain of links and make posts :yawn:. It takes care and thought to post original content or craft thoughtful commentaries on other, relevant content. So kudos for that as well.
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My travels through the National Park System: americaincontext.com
Thanks Owen, Pat & Willard, and Barky. We do bust our butts coming up with original content, and some days it's better than others;-) You can usually tell when one or more of us is traveling as the number of daily posts dips. Still, there are seemingly countless issues out there to keep track of, whether it's night skies, summer activities, new trails, or storm damage.
But c'mon, folks, things can't be 100 percent hunky-dory at the Traveler, can they? While we certainly appreciate all the good words and vibes, there must be some area(s) we can improve on, no?
You have so much to teach us, and I have yet to find anything I don't like. The variety of news articles are timely and engaging, the forum can get lively, and I like how you keep it real. A travelogue format is SOOO boring in comparison. Thank you!
The previous was not a paid endorsement;-)--Ed.
Thanks Bat. The fun thing, actually, is that we learn quite a bit as we go along as well.
Okay, here's a comment. Those dad-gummed Captcha things are often very difficult to read, so I have to re-type them sometimes two or three times. Maybe it's just my aged eyeballs. But is there a way to make them more clear?
As for advertising, I realized you don't have an ad budget. I was just commenting that it's too bad. I have passed along information to many friends and hope they are taking advantage of your work.
Has Traveler ever been mentioned in service publications like The Arrowhead? I think I'll shoot an email to them right now and see if they might provide a few column inches.
SEE? IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN. OKAY, HERE'S ANOTHER TRY . . . .
Is it case-sensitive?
Thanks Kurt keeping us well informed on most important and pertinent issues in dealing with the National Parks today. The NPT has given me some of the most and intriguing blogs and articles to read, and help to us keep abreast on some of the most conniving politicians whom wish to destroy or dismantle the National Park Service. Kurt, your the eagle eyes that helps bring this about with high quality journalism. Kudos to you and your staff for a job well done.
Connie
I discovere National Parks Traveler a couple of months ago and now I stop by every day, sometimes a couple of times! Keep up the good work, I for one truly appreciate it!
Just those stretches of a few days every once in awhile that get a little dry and generic, and you can tell those are just the days that you had to pull things from your files instead of come up with new stuff, but hey, that's understood and acceptable! You even addressed that in your comments above. I love the variety and have to say, that I agree with the above comments in every way. I don't get much out of the photos of the day or the quizzes, but they certainly are a valued part of the site, and I wouldn't want to see them gone. Just like, other times I've seen people say they don't read the "dumbass of the day" news articles, but I enjoy those and would hate to see them go.
This is the only news or blog-related website I visit on a daily basis. You must be doing something right! I've wondered in the past...my only suggestion for you and your site would be to add a "Donate Now" button! I'm only a college student but would be happy to contribute ten bucks when I can to the only news site I look at regularly. My assumption would be that others feel the same. At least let us help pay for the technical costs of the things and whatevers you have to use to provide us this service!
I think you're doing a fine job. I hope the website is making money or, if not, that a way can be found for it to do so.
I would request that, like New West, the website enable posters to request that an alert of subsequent responses in the thread be e-mailed to them. I might write something but then not check back for days if not prompted.
imtnbke,
There is indeed a notification system. If you go to edit your profile, across the top there's a series of buttons, one which says "notification settings." Within that you can select the option to be notified of comments that follow yours.
Thanks for the National Parks Traveler. Each day I look forward to reading it.
OK, well, there are two things about NPT I'm not fond of:
1) Captcha. It fails 50% of the time, no lie. Both on Firefox and Safari.
2) I don't like "tragedy of the week" stories, stories that talk about accidents and what-not. Too much like the nightly news. I don't see the need for it. Sometimes they are related specifically to the uniqueness of the park (like the deaths in Denali of mountain climbers), but sometimes they're just mundane things that can happen anywhere. Mind you, I skip those stories in my own local paper as well. I'm just not much of a "tragedy voyeur".
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My travels through the National Park System: americaincontext.com
Ah, ha! Kurt, thank you for telling me that. I will change the notification setting for my account.
Kurt and All of the NPT staff,
An online poll or multiple choice survey might increase your feedback participation. Readers could give you some quality quantitative data to work with to improve the site.
That being said, my suggestion is for a regular poll on the NPT that gauges reader opinions on a variety of NPS news, controversial issues, best parks to visit, etc. The NPS use to have an internal weekly poll on their InsideNPS portal that was quite popular amongst employees.
Keep up the good work.
-Ranger in Massachusetts
I understand that Captcha can present a small challenge, however I've never had a problem with it on NPT in either Safari, Chrome, or Firefox. Captcha provides a great service to the ongoing effort to digitally transcript public domain books and periodicals. I sincerely hope the NPT keeps the current system.
I usually skip the "tragedy of the week" articles too, but because they tend to quote verbatim from the NPS Morning Report, which I'll be reading anyway. I wish the Traveler might approach these stories a little differently. Rather than repeating the official brief as breaking news, why not wait a few days, monitor local newspaper websites, and come in with a more detailed examination of the story? Often these articles appear before important details are known, like names or motivations or outcomes. I'd like to see Traveler consolidate and expand on information available elsewhere, rather than parrot it.
Oh, and one other thing I would appreciate immensely. A way to navigate to the next or previous article besides backing out to the main page.
@ mcghiever, you've put your finger on something that has been a constant source of introspection and debate at Traveler. While the criticism you raise is legitimate, it remains that reader response, the single best indicator we have of what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong, is absolutely unequivocal on the matter of incident reports. When treated as breaking news, they garner more reader interest that just about anything else we post here at Traveler. To be honest, we'd like to do more in-depth reporting and followups on these incidents. I wouldn't be surprised to see us move in that direction after we resolve some issues of a more immediate and pressing nature.
That's an interesting suggestion, Jonathan. The redesign that Kurt refers to in the main article may open the way to offering reader polls on a regular basis and getting feedback in a quicker, more organized way. Anything that will help us produce a better Traveler for our readers -- budget and staff permitting -- is on the table. Keep those suggestions coming!
It would be a service to readers if NPT were to more carefully delineate editorial opinion from factual news reports. Some NPT articles mix fact and opinion without distinction. This leads to confusion.
I love the Traveler!! And, contrary to RodF, I actually like that NPT has a critical (e.g. analytical, questioning) perspective. I always feel that I can rely upon the information / facts that I find here, but I like knowing that I will come here to find thoughtful commentary on the parks from people who can be loving critics.
I also really like the mix of stories -- from travel, to issues, to books, to (yes, am I voyeuristic?) even the various tragedies (which do have the effect of reminding me that one needs to be more careful than people sometimes are).
Let me especially commend you on your pieces (which I've occasionally contributed to) on the history OF the parks (in addition to the history IN the parks). I find when traveling to the parks that sometimes they don't do as good a job as I would like of telling you more about the park's history as a park -- how and why it came to be, what management challenges it has faced or is facing, how the park has related to nearby communities, etc. Some parks simply seem to see themselves as transparent conveyors of some others’ history (e.g. Lincoln's birth, Appalachian culture) while not recognizing that they themselves have fascinating histories and are actors that have influenced the history of the regions where they lie. I like the pieces that Bob Janiskee and Chance Finegan do on park history, and love the pieces on decommissioned parks, which remind us that there is nothing about the continued existence of a National Park that is inevitable.
As for suggestions, I’d love to see:
(1) even more commentary on history and cultural resources in the parks with even more attention to things like:
debates over historical interpretation (e.g. at the President’s House site at INDE or many other sites)
revisions that are happening with historical sites and exhibits (or that desperately need to happen – what about all those Mission 66 visitor centers with Mission 66-era exhibits?!). Maybe some folks could be induced to do exhibit reviews for you?
the unmet needs of cultural resources divisions at all levels
the relationship between cultural resources and interpretation (an odd bureaucratic division throughout NPS that sometimes prevents professional NPS historians from having much role in historical interpretation)
archives in the parks, at the National Archives and at Harpers Ferry Center – interesting materials that are available, new partnerships aiding archival management, problems with public access to archives, unmet needs, or whatever
(2) ability to browse content by park
(3) I agree that the CAPTCHA thing has been problematic for me
Here’s to a fantastic 2010 for National Parks Traveler! I hope to be able to write for you again this year.
Anne Mitchell Whisnant, Ph.D.
Historian & Author of Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History
and When the Parkway Came (a book for children, with David E. Whisnant)
Chapel Hill, NC
Anne,
Much thanks for your praise, your suggestions, and your past (and hopefully future) contributions. We're constantly evaluating how we approach stories. Indeed, if anyone looked back to the Traveler's style of four years ago and compared it to the current one, they'd see a sea change. And we're constantly evaluating what we'd like to add to our content. There is no shortage of ideas, just a shortage of hands on deck and hours in a day.
As to browsing content by park, you can already do that. Simply click on the "Browse Content By Topic" link in the upper right-hand column and then scroll alphabetically to the park of your choice.
Now, while there have been quite a few complaints about the Captcha, there are even more from the Traveler's staff about the search function at our disposal. In a word, it's "miserable." That said, we have plans on the drawing board to both enhance the ability to search articles by park and to inject the search engine with a dose or two of steroids. We hope to bring those upgrades to you later this winter, or early this spring (nothing worthwhile is ever easily attained).
Kurt,
That's all great -- yes, better searching would be fantastic. And I will hope to find time to write another piece again soon -- to do my part in furthering the conversation about history in the parks. Meanwhile, I'm amazed at all you have been able to do here and at the very high quality of the articles and information, given the shoestring (?!) budget. THANK YOU!
Anne
Anne Mitchell Whisnant, Ph.D.
Historian & Author of Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History
and When the Parkway Came (a book for children, with David E. Whisnant)
Chapel Hill, NC
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