All Parks News

Neighborhood watch-style groups will have to do the work of rangers to prevent illegal activity in closed state parks unless voters approve a vehicle license fee or some other method is found to save the beleaguered park system, officials and park supporters said Tuesday. California State Parks officials - who had planned to tell the public this week which state parks were going to be closed this year due to budget cuts - admitted Tuesday that the job of determining which parks to shutter is more complicated than they thought it would be.

The lookout tower at the future National Museum of Forest Service History is shorter than the surrounding trees, but it still has a commanding view. Its windows look out across the airfield where the Forest Service's smokejumpers take off. They frame two recent forest fires, several logged hillsides and the tips of two national wilderness areas. A few years ago, the same lookout tower looked across the National Mall at the Smithsonian Institution's castle.

50 Department of the Interior sites have been selected for the America the Beautiful Quarters™ program.Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon National Parks will be the first sites commemorated in a new quarter-dollar program announced today by the U.S. Mint.Starting in April of 2010, the America the Beautiful Quarters Program will begin producing quarters with reverse (tails side) designs showcasing a national park or other federally preserved area from each state, U.S. territory, and the District of Columbia.

Through the Canon Photography in the Parks Photo Contest, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, encourages Americans to visit their national parks and photograph their beauty. This summer’s fourth annual contest called upon photography enthusiasts to submit their “Inspirational Nature Images,” the theme for this year’s contest. If you haven’t submitted a photo yet, you have until September 30 to submit an image.

As fall draws near you can expect to see the beautiful change in foliage. From green to different shades of orange and red and yellow, trees are already beginning to change. If you’re interested in taking in the beauty of nature this fall, then plan a visit to what we think are this year’s top 10 leaf peeping destinations. 1. Adirondack Mountains, NY

Our national parks—from Death Valley to the Grand Canyon to Acadia—are home to some of the best dark night skies in the country. These treasured dark skies are diminishing at an alarming rate–light pollution is the culprit. At the rate we’re going, there will be no dark skies left in the continental United States by 2025.

There’s been a buzz all summer long about Ken Burns's newest film, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” Sneak peaks, events and news stories nationwide are stirring up a renewed interest in national parks and creating much anticipation for the film’s broadcast premiere on September 27.

The common loon is anything but common in its appearance. With their trademark zebra-striped “necklace,” glossy checker-board feathers, and sleek graceful form, these majestic birds are quite a treasure to behold. Loons are commonly found on large freshwater lakes surrounded by wooded areas. These water birds can dive underwater to catch their prey and can submerge for up to a minute in dives that can reach at least 200 feet, making loons one the world’s best diving birds. 

Help promote open space in urban areas—set up a temporary park in your city as part of National PARK(ing) Day!PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks.The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate regarding how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat…at least until the meter runs out!

Don’t miss this great opportunity to join more than 100,000 volunteers in the country’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to support America’s public lands! National Public Lands Day, which brings together tens of thousands of volunteers to work on and clean up public lands, will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2009. 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Join the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation in making America's Best Idea -- the national parks -- even better. On September 26, National Public Lands Day, the national parks will host visitors and volunteers for a special day of service and celebration. As part of the festivities, parks will offer a sneak preview of Ken Burns's new documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea premiering on PBS September 27.

Inspired by the forthcoming Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea, the National Park Foundation (NPF) has established a new grant program to connect underserved audiences, primarily people of color, to the national parks. NPF, in partnership with the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr.

Looking back, there were so many I'm not sure I could name the first one. National park, that is.

The federal National Park Service (NPS) will invest $750 million in almost 800 projects to stimulate the economy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

On the road through the tree-studded high desert toward the small town of Chinle, Ariz., the car radio was bringing in the local Navajo station, with a playlist heavy in Top 40 hits, peppered with Navajo-language station breaks and car commercials.