North Cascades National Park

America is abundantly rich in the "natural assets" found within the National Park System, but inadequate funding by Congress is threatening the core health of that system, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

The final "entrance-fee-free" weekend of the year is coming to the National Park System this weekend, giving you another excuse (if you need one) to get out and visit a park.

While there are still two months left to 2011, it's not too early to think about making a tax-deductible contribution to your favorite national park-related organization.

It just got easier to follow your favorite unit of the National Park System on the Traveler.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees national parks and other federal lands, says it is unconstitutional for the federal government to own those tracts.

Latest visitation figures show that tourism to the National Park System dipped somewhat in 2010, dropping from 285.5 million in 2009 to 281.3 million last year. Is that a concern?

A congressman from New York hopes to bolster pride in America, and boost American manufacturers, by pushing legislation that would require gift shops throughout the National Park System to carry items made in America.

A budget battle could be brewing in Congress over funding for the Interior Department. On the sidelines, the National Parks Conservation Association will be lobbying for more money for the national parks in the fiscal year 2012 budget.

True, the entrance fees at national parks are a tiny part of the overall cost of visiting a park. But if you can schedule your 2012 trip to get in free during one of National Park Service's entrance-fee-free days, why not?

Nearly 50 years after it was completed, the Leopold Report on wildlife management in the national parks is perhaps overdue for revisions to take into account the realities of climate change, sprawl, and greater visitation to the parks.

With the snows of winter on their way, most people are bringing an end to this year's travels and looking ahead to 2012. Which has us wondering: How do you decide which national parks to put on your travel calendar?

An initiative to build a $1 billion endowment for national parks in these distressed economic times is bold and ambitious, one that could do much good for a National Park System that Congress has been unable, or unwilling, to fully fund. But it won't happen overnight, and it will take continued support from administrations yet to be elected.

Keep your eyes on the House Natural Resources Committee this week, as the committee is expected to take action on measures that could set a precedent for "wild and scenic" rivers, force stocking of non-native fish in North Cascades National Park, and realign wilderness boundaries to allow for a road to be moved out of a flood-prone area in North Cascades.

The impact the late-National Park Service Director Roger Kennedy had on the National Park Service won't be lost and can't be overestimated. In his 2008 book, Wildfire and Americans; How to Save Lives, Property, and Your Tax Dollars, Mr. Kennedy measured the values of both science and faith in protecting wildness. He presented the following talk, portions of which came from that book, in 2006 during an appearance at the University of New England.

How did you spend your summer? David and Kay Scott traveled nearly 11,000 miles, visited 29 units of the National Park System, and toured 62 lodges. Here's a recap of what they found.

What was your most memorable ranger-led activity in the National Park System this year?

Ian Shive, who has traveled the National Park System to capture its unique and spectacular landscapes in his cameras' viewfinders, has been honored with the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography.

There are lots of ways to show-off your love for the national parks, from park-specific hats and pins to T-shirts. Now, through a deal orchestrated by the National Park Foundation, you can travel in style with national park-branded luggage.

Though the national park movement is more than a century old, efforts are ongoing to support that movement and enhance the protection of national park lands globally. Recently the National Park Service bolstered those efforts by agreeing to work with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature on the support of parks and other protected areas world-wide.

Is 'bagging all of the national parks' a goal you've set for yourself?

A more expansive, and inclusive, National Park System, stronger educational outreach, and a revised approach for managing today's natural and cultural resource challenges are among goals laid out in a blueprint for leading the National Park Service into its second century.

Memo to Congress: Don't cut national park funding.

Here at the Traveler we put our heads together to come up with a list of where best to watch wildlife in the National Park System. We're sure you can help us grow this list.

Volunteer Citizen Scientists are being recruited for the Cascades Butterfly Project, a long-term effort in six locations in the Cascades Mountains to help biologists identify and count subalpine butterflies. North Cascades National Park and Mount Rainier National Park are among the participating locations.

Would you still contribute to charitable organizations such as the National Park Foundation and park friends groups if you couldn't deduct the donation on your income taxes?

OK all you Droid owners, now's the time for you to add a national park app to your phone...for free!

Whitebark pine trees, a foundation species that grows high in the upper reaches of parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Yosemite, and Kings Canyon, is in need of Endangered Species Act protection from climate change, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For a quarter-century the North Cascades Institute has been working in partnership with the National Park Service to educate the public on the wonders of North Cascades National Park. Those 25 years haven't been overlooked by the Park Service, which recently honored the institute for its work.