Have Google Send You Park News

When I began this blog, I needed a good daily source of news to share on the site. I had originally thought I could get my news from places like the NPS Morning Report or the NPS Digest. Those two are good places to check, but they are both written from a perspective within the National Park Service. In my search for news about the parks, I discovered this "secret" that has given me a valuable source of news for months. I hope you find valuable as well.

Google has a service which checks hundreds and hundreds of newspaper websites daily. And because they are Google, they have set up a search index on that news. But instead of having to go to their website everyday and type in "National Park", you can set up an email service which will deliver the daily results to your inbox. Here is how it works:

1) Go to Google Alerts (you may need an account with google to use this service)
2) Type in your search term (try "National Park")
3) Select the type (I like "News & Web")
4) Select "How Often" ( I have found that once-a-day is pretty good )
5) Hit the "create alert" button

You can create multiple alerts. Here are a few of the other alerts I have: "National Historic Site", "National Monument", "Grand Canyon", "Yellowstone", "Yosemite".

The results are not perfect. In fact, there are days where the results for National Park include stories about parks in India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. But, we've all probably become accustomed to skipping over the results we don't want anyway. So, it mostly works. Here is the result set from a recent "National Park" email alert from Google:

Google Alert for: National Park

Glacier Park girds for snow ' lots of it
Helena Independent Record - Helena,MT,USA
WEST GLACIER (LEE) ' Old Man Winter refuses to let loose his grip on Glacier National Park, with plow crews pushing through deep drifts and more snow on the ...
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National Park Service announces new summer hours
Borger News-Herald - TX, USA
The National Park Service in Fritch announces new office hours for the summer beginning Saturday May 27. The headquarters office ...
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National park wardens push to carry sidearms
Vancouver Sun (subscription) - British Columbia, Canada
ST. LAWRENCE ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK, Ont. -- Ask Bud Andress why national park wardens should carry sidearms, and he'll tell the ...
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Quebec reconsiders selling park to developer
Globe and Mail - Canada
Widespread protest against the partial privatization of Mount-Orford NationalPark may be forcing the Quebec government to backtrack on its controversial...
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Plan to Use Sharpshooters on Elk Has Park in Critic's Crosshairs
New York Times - United States
ESTES PARK, Colo., May 25 ' The elk that roam across Rocky Mountain National Park in their slow-moving majesty have become a signature attraction for tourists ...
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Vehicle blast in Wilpattu national park, 8 feared
TamilNet - Sri Lanka
A tourist vehicle with eight persons on board was feared blown in a bomb blast Saturday noon, northwest of Willpattu national park, fellow tourists from ...

Highway Into Park Shut Again by Rockslide
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Just a day after reopening, California 140 was shut to traffic again Friday as falling rocks rained down on the key road into Yosemite National Park. ...
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Panguitch seeks national park of its own at Cedar Breaks
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
PANGUITCH - This southwest Utah city wants in on a proposal to turn Cedar Breaks National Monument into a national park. Mayor Art ...