El Malpais National Monument
Centennial Initiative 2016
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, America invites the world to discover the meaning of national parks to their lives and inspires people to both experience and become devoted to these special places.
On August 25, 2006 - the 90th anniversary of the National Park Service - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne launched the National Park Centennial Initiative to prepare national parks for another century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment. Since then the National Park Service asked citizens, park partners, experts and other stakeholders what they envisioned for a second century of national parks.
A nationwide series of more than 40 listening sessions produced more than 6,000 comments that helped to shape five centennial goals. The goals and vision were presented to President Bush and to the American people on May 31st in a report called The Future of America's National Parks.
Every national park staff took their lead from this report and created local centennial strategies to describe their vision and desired accomplishments by 2016. This is just the first year, and there are many great things to come as the National Park Service prepares to celebrate 100 years!
To keep up with the Centennial Initiative and to experience the interactive version of The Future of America's National Parks and special features please contact the NPS.
News from the Parks
January 8, 2009 - 5:17pm
Unlike the last two years, popular recreation areas in Western Washington have escaped serious damage from this week’s heavy rain. Mount Rainier National Park and Gifford Pinchot National Forest were devastated by flooding in 2007. Last year, flooding hit Olympic National Park.
January 8, 2009 - 5:06pm
Sen. Byron Dorgan, (D-N.D.) said he agrees with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department on the elk situation at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Since the unveiling of the National Park Service’s Draft Elk Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement on Dec. 17, Game and Fish officials have voiced their displeasure that the document did not include their “Alternative G,” as a viable option.
January 8, 2009 - 5:05pm
All roads will lead to Washington on Inauguration Day, but many of them will be closed. With packed trains, buses and planes, how will as many as 2 million people who are hoping to witness history crowd into a city whose subway system usually accommodates 718,000 a day?
January 8, 2009 - 5:01pm
Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2, more than 500 small earthquakes shook Yellowstone National Park. The swarm of quakes was centered below Yellowstone Lake, beginning southeast of Stevenson Island and migrating north toward Fishing Bridge before quieting.
January 8, 2009 - 5:00pm
Sarah Creachbaum, a 15-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been named superintendent of Haleakala National Park.


