Sep 25th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Saturday is National Public Lands Day in the U.S. and to celebrate, the National Park Service is waiving entry fees to all of the parks. The day is set aside on an annual basis to not only recognize the value and importance of public lands but to organize opportunities to maintain and protect them as well.
During last year's National Public Lands Day, more than 170,000 volunteers worked on 2067 ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Celebrate 2012 National Public Lands Day With Free Entry To National Parks
Sep 25th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Saturday is National Public Lands Day in the U.S. and to celebrate, the National Park Service is waiving entry fees to all of the parks. The day is set aside on an annual basis to not only recognize the value and importance of public lands but to organize opportunities to maintain and protect them as well.
During last year's National Public Lands Day, more than 170,000 volunteers worked on 2067 ...Statue Of Liberty To Reopen October 28
Sep 21st, 2012 at 8:00AM: Last week, the National Park Service announced that after being closed for renovations for nearly a year, the interior of the Statue of Liberty is set to reopen on October 28. The reopening will allow a limited number of visitors inside for the first time since the renovation project began and it's timed to coincide with the celebration of the statue's 126th anniversary.
Changes to the interior ...Yosemite Hantavirus Threat Continues To Spread, 230000 Visitors Possibly Exposed
Sep 14th, 2012 at 8:00AM: It continues to be bad news for the National Park Service as it struggles to deal with an outbreak of the hantavirus that was traced back to Yosemite National Park. The number of visitors who may have been exposed to the potentially deadly virus continues to rise dramatically and the NPS now says that it has alerted more than 230,000 people to the threat. That is significantly more than was ...North Cascades National Park Looks To Expand
Sep 5th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Hidden away in a remote corner of the Pacific Northwest, the North Cascades National Park is amongst the least visited parks in the entire U.S. system. On an annual basis, only about 20,000 people pass through its gates, despite the fact that it contains some of the most breathtaking backcountry in all of North America. There is a movement afoot to expand the park's borders, however, and if ...Hantavirus In Yosemite National Park Results In Two Deaths
Aug 30th, 2012 at 8:00AM: The National Park Service is scrambling to deal with an outbreak of the deadly hantavirus in Yosemite National Park after two people who recently visited the region contracted the disease and died. So far there have been three confirmed cases of the virus and a fourth suspected case. Park officials fear that potentially hundreds of visitors may have been exposed, however, prompting them to release ...Infographic: What National Parks Mean To The US Economy
Aug 25th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Today marks the 96th birthday of the National Park Service, the organization charged with managing all of America's national parks, monuments and other historically important properties. While this date is certainly a cause for celebration, it is also one for caution as well. As budget cuts loom, the NPS faces some big challenges as it prepares to move into its second century. In January of next ...The Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Officially Opens
Aug 7th, 2012 at 3:30PM: The Star Spangled Banner Historical Trail officially opened last week, marking the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The trail, which was established back in 2008, features 560 miles of land and water routes that trace the major events of the war as it played out across Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Dozens of markers along the trail's length help tell the story of the conflict, ...America's Nuclear Sites Could Become National Parks
Aug 5th, 2012 at 8:00AM: New legislation has been introduced to Congress that could make three sites that played a vital role in creating America's nuclear weapons program during World War II into national parks. If passed, the legislation would provide resources to preserve the sites and make them accessible to visitors for the first time.
The three sites include the national laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and ...Study Shows Visitors To National Parks Up, Time Spent In The Parks Down
Jul 15th, 2012 at 8:00AM: According to USA Today, a new study indicates that the number of visitors to America's national parks has risen over the past twenty years, but the amount of time they actually spend in the parks is going down. The National Park Service, which conducted the study, says that even though many of the parks, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, have seen record numbers of visitors in recent years, those ...US National Parks May Open To Mountain Biking
Jul 8th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Earlier this week the National Park Service announced a shift in policy that could potentially allow mountain biking in more of the parks. A new rule, that goes into effect on August 6, will give park superintendents the option to decide if they will allow cyclists access to roads that are typically closed to motor vehicles. Those paths would include fire and access roads that are now only used by ...Celebrate July Fourth On The National Mall
Jul 4th, 2012 at 9:00AM: If you're looking for a unique and fun way to celebrate Independence Day today, and you're fortunate enough to live close to Washington D.C., you may want to drop by the National Mall to take part in the annual festivities. The iconic monuments and memorials that make up the Mall should make for an inspiring backdrop to a full day of events.
Among the more memorable attractions on the National ...Explore The Night Skies In Voyageurs National Park
Jun 22nd, 2012 at 8:00AM: In its 2011 "A Call To Action" plan the National Park Service outlined a host of initiatives that it wished to pursue as the organization prepared to enter its second century. One of those was preserving the night skies so that visitors to the parks could continue to enjoy amazing views of the stars, the Milky Way and other celestial bodies. Dubbed the "Starry, Starry Night" plan, this initiative ...Why Are Young Adults Shunning The National Parks?
Jun 7th, 2012 at 8:00AM: For decades America's national parks have been popular destinations for travelers of all ages and attendance numbers have been at near record highs even in recent years. But the National Park Service has begun to see a disturbing shift in the demographic of its visitors over the past decade or so, as young adults appear to have fled the parks en masse.
According to a recent story from MSNBC, ...New Half Dome Permit System In Place For Yosemite
May 28th, 2012 at 8:00AM: This past Friday, just in time for the busy Memorial Day Weekend, the climbing cables were put in place on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, opening the door for hikers and backpackers to hit the iconic trail. The 16-mile round-trip trek includes a challenging scramble up the side of Yosemite's famous rock formation and eventually winds its way to the summit, some 8800 feet above sea level. ...US Service Members Now Get Free Entry To National Parks
May 18th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Earlier this week the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that all active U.S. service members, and their dependents, will now be eligible to receive a free annual pass to national parks. This new military version of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass will be available starting tomorrow, just in time for Armed Forces Day.
The new pass grants ...Museum Month: Kalaupapa National Historic Park And Leper Settlement, Molokai
May 15th, 2012 at 1:00PM: Some people – me, for instance – tend to skip museums when traveling in favor of fresh air or outdoor recreation. It's always a treat when I can combine the two, especially because I'm fascinated by indigenous cultures. Though not considered museums in the strictest sense, National Historic Parks, Monuments and the like often do have buildings, exhibits, or relics with educational ...Catch The May 20 Solar Eclipse From A National Park
May 11th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Later this month, North America will witness its first solar eclipse in more than 18 years. On May 20, the moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out most of the light from our star and blanketing much of the western United States and Canada in darkness. For astronomy buffs it promises to be quite a celestial event and most will want to take it all in while surrounded by a ...The National Parks Are Fee-Free For The Next Week
Apr 20th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Tomorrow marks the start of National Parks Week and to celebrate the National Park Service has waived all entry fees from April 21-29. That means that more than 100 parks that typically require visitors to pay at the gate will have free access for the next nine days.
America's national parks include some of the most spectacular outdoor environments on the planet and Parks Week was created to ...National Park Service Launches New Civil War Website
Apr 12th, 2012 at 8:00AM: On April 12, 1861, exactly 151 years ago today, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina officially igniting the American Civil War. What followed was four years of brutal fighting that would not only decide the fate of over 4 million slaves, but also the very future of the nation. That war left an indelible mark on American history and culture that is felt to this day and many of ...Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass to be reenacted in New Mexico
Mar 21st, 2012 at 2:30PM:
The Battle of Glorieta Pass, the most important battle of the Civil War in the Southwest, will be reenacted this weekend in New Mexico.
This important battle took place on March 26 and 28, 1862, but the reenactment will take place on the weekend of March 24 and 25. A Confederate army under General Henry Hopkins Sibley had marched out of Texas to take what was then the New Mexico Territory. ...
