National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis. Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
National Parks Traveler Podcast
Those who have ascended to the presidency of the United States are products of the environments in which they were born, raised, and educated. Their early experiences usually have a significant effect on how they manage their presidency and the subsequent policy and programs developed under their watch.
Lyndon Baines Johnson is a fitting example of that. His presidency was guided in full measure by his upbringing, his personal experiences with poverty and shame and his observation of racism and hate.
Some 615,000 visitors a year flock to the hard-packed gray sands of Padre Island National Seashore along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Mild winter temperatures here allow the national seashore to be fully enjoyed year-round, although summertime visitors can expect relentless heat, despite the epic Gulf breezes that blow nonstop.
For much of the 20th century, there were efforts to drain the Everglades, the world famous "river of grass" in Florida, to make way for agriculture, industry, and communities. More recently, more effort has been focused on restoring the Everglades, to let the sheet of water that heads south from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay flow more naturally, as naturally as possible.
What exactly would a National Biodiversity Strategy look like? What would it entail? How does it differ from efforts that have been ongoing for years? To explore those, and other, questions about biodiversity we’re joined today by Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife, and Lindsay Rosa, who directs Defenders’ center for conservation innovation.
We’re all aware of the rush to the outdoors that the covid pandemic has spawned. From coast to coast, national parks, national forests, and state parks are being crowded, if not overrun at times, by visitors. Whether it continues now that the pandemic seems to be easing will be interesting to watch.
You could say they’re not making any more wilderness across the National Park System...but that’s not to say we can’t ensure that park lands that have wilderness qualities – untrammeled forests, mountains, prairies, rain forests, places that retain their primeval character and influence, and are essentially without permanent improvement or modern human occupation – can’t be officially protected as wilderness.
How many are too many? That’s the question to mull in the wake of news from the National Park Service that nearly 300 million visited the National Park System last year. Now, to put some context into that number, it’s not the highest annual tally the Park Service has counted. Back in 2016, the agency’s centennial year, nearly 331 million people headed into the parks. But...that doesn’t mean last year’s number marked an improvement in your national park experience.
Bison, which in 2016 were designated as the United States' national mammal, once numbered as many as 60 million or more in North America and roamed from Nevada to Virginia and northern Canada to Mexico.
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The Essential RVing Guide
The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.
This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.
You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.
So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.
