Search results for “Enhancing the Visitor Experience”
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Blog Post Budget Cuts Hit Home—Harry Truman’s Home Somewhere in the visitor center of the Harry S Truman National Historic Site in Independence, Missouri, I worry that the park rangers pass around my photograph, my name, and a note saying: “Warning! He asks too many questions.”
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Blog Post Parks after Dark: 9 Ideas for Nighttime Fun Summer nights may be short, but national parks often host extra activities to educate and entertain visitors during this popular tourist season. Whether you’re exploring on your own or hanging out with a ranger, try a few of these excuses to stay out late in special places.
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Blog Post Plan a Desert Getaway to Arches National Park The cooler months are an ideal time to explore the wonders of the desert, when visitors can see the beauty of the canyons and cacti without the intense sunshine and triple-digit temperatures.
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Press Release National Parks Plagued by Significant Air Pollution Impacts, Finds New Analysis Majority of Parks Experience Days Risky for Vulnerable Visitors; Four Parks Regularly Unsafe for Most People
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Press Release More Action Needed to Hold Polluters Accountable; Toxic Chemicals Continue to Spill into Waterways at Indiana Dunes National Park Lack of enforcement opens the door for future illegal discharges, resulting in more beach closures and potential harm to visitor health and wildlife at Indiana Dunes.
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Press Release Proposal to Allow Commercial Rocket Launches Threatens Cumberland Island National Seashore If this proposal moves forward, rockets would be launched over Cumberland Island National Seashore, putting park resources and visitors at risk.
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Press Release Utah Air Quality Board Approves Regional Haze Plan, Paving the Way for More Air Pollution in National Parks and Local Communities It is unacceptable that Utah is again failing to protect our parks, local economies and visitors, especially at a time when the state so desperately needs bold leadership to combat air pollution problems.
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Blog Post The Most-Visited National Park Site in Alaska Summer is the traditional tourist season in Alaska. One national park site in the state attracts far more recreational visitors than any other. Can you guess which one?
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Magazine Article Tourist Time Capsule Before selfies were in and big hair was out, Roger Minick traveled the country capturing photos of visitors at national parks.
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Press Release Park Advocates Applaud Decision to Keep Off-Road Vehicles Out of Utah National Parks and Monuments Decision maintains commonsense park resource protections and promotes visitor safety
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Magazine Article Creative Access Some visitors with disabilities are venturing farther into parks with the help of specialized backpacks, family and friends.
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Blog Post National Park Construction Projects in Jeopardy In Massachusetts, park officials barricaded a bridge leading into Lowell National Historical Park because bricks in the structure could fall on people's heads. In Washington, D.C., a bridge on the George Washington Parkway that leads to Arlington Cemetery and is used daily by thousands of people is so structurally deficient, the National Park Service could close it to heavy vehicles such as tour buses within two years if it isn't repaired. In Wyoming, important sections of the Yellowstone National Park Grand Loop Road are in such need of repair that they threaten visitor safety.
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Blog Post Want to Be a Park Scientist? Counting birds. Looking for dragonfly larvae. Analyzing coyote scat? National park visitors can help the places they love by taking part in meaningful science around the country.
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Magazine Article Finders Weepers Every year, national parks receive dozens of rocks and artifacts returned by remorseful visitors. What are parks to do with the stuff?
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Press Release Local Businesses and Park Community Representatives to Secretary Zinke: Don’t Price Families Out of National Parks Increasing entrance fees would harm gateway communities that depend on park visitors.
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Press Release National Parks Group Disappointed by Lack of Protection for Reefs at Biscayne National Park Marine reserve at Biscayne is needed and vital to improve coral reef habitat, fishing, diving, and visitor experience
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Blog Post How Can Congress Fund More Park Projects for the Next Century? Here’s One Way The Centennial Challenge will leverage funding from a variety of sources to improve the experience for national park visitors.
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Press Release National Parks Maintenance Backlog Nears $12 Billion Maintenance Needs for Trails, Visitors Centers Grows from Last Year – Congress Needs to Boost Park Funding
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Blog Post 5 Inspirational Stories from the Parks Through their spectacular landscapes, magnificent wildlife and rich history, national parks have inspired generations of visitors. But often, it is the people within those parks who move us most. Here are five personal stories of determination, selflessness and healing that show how parks can bring out the best in people.
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Press Release Parks Group Supports Protecting Mount Rushmore From Further Fireworks Damage Why would you risk setting a place like this on fire during the height of the annual summer drought? The state of South Dakota’s fireworks proposal carries significant dangers to park visitors and staff.
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Press Release Administration Proposes Massive Park Fee Increase High fees, short comment period shortchange parks, visitors.
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Blog Post New "FracTracker" Tool Can Help Safeguard National Parks Concerned visitors are helping to document oil and gas development on the border of Theodore Roosevelt National Park through an innovative crowdsourcing campaign.
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Press Release Parks group files lawsuit over off-road vehicle usage at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area The Park Service's decision to authorize off-road vehicles in Glen Canyon will harm the landscape and disrupt other visitors
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Magazine Article Gift of the Glaciers Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers visitors beaches, bluffs, clear waters, and 10,000-year-old hills of sand.
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Press Release Secretarial Order on Hunting is a Solution in Search of a Problem Despite a decline in hunters - and an increase in national park visitors - new Secretarial Order aims to open more parks and public lands to hunting.
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Press Release Refinery Threatens Theodore Roosevelt National Park Requested water use would harm park, visitor experience
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Press Release Delayed Air Quality Protections Favors Pollution Over Parks and Public Lands The Bureau of Land Management is delaying implementation of commonsense methane rules, putting the health of national parks and park visitors at risk.
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Blog Post New Video Showcases Youth Who Love Gateway New storytelling tool is part of a new approach for engaging the next generation of park visitors through the Your Park! Your Health! program.
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Blog Post Valley of Life: How the “Super Bloom” Is Transforming Death Valley The California desert is in the midst of an impressive, organic marketing campaign, wowing visitors with unusually profuse flower displays. Spoiler alert: It’s working.
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Magazine Article Objects of Affection You see their work in visitor centers scattered across the nation—18th-century paintings by our nation’s early masters, mahogany desks where historic speeches were penned, early photographs of abolitionists, and authentic uniforms from Civil War soldiers. Meet the talented people who preserve the age-old artifacts that tell America’s stories.
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Park Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park On April 12, 1861, Captain George S. James fired the first Confederate shot at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, leading to a siege, a Union retreat and the start of the Civil War. Exhibits at Fort Sumter help explain the tensions that led South Carolina to be the first state to secede the union. Visitors can also see the flag Major General Robert Anderson raised there in 1865 to reunite the nation.
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Park Aztec Ruins National Monument The Aztec Ruins National Monument lies along the Animas River in New Mexico and commemorates the largest ancestral Pueblo community in the region, preserving incredible historic buildings, roadways and artifacts from the 11th through the 13th centuries. Park artifacts help visitors understand how the community developed and changed over its 200-year history, from stone and wood tools to pottery to turquoise and obsidian jewelry.
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Park Fort Davis National Historic Site Curious about life at a frontier military post? Wondering what it would have been like to serve in the military at a remote barracks during the Indian Wars? Fort Davis is one of the best examples of a frontier fort in the Southwest. The site is also widely recognized for its role in the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, African-Americans who enlisted in the frontier Army and served as some of the nation's first national park rangers. The undeveloped and historic views at the site are just as much a part of the experience as the fort itself, letting visitors experience the wide-open vistas much as the soldiers did in the 19th century.
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Park Dry Tortugas National Park This park protects seven small islands 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, and the ocean waters that surround them. These islands change constantly from the effects of tides, weather, air, and other environmental and human factors. On Garden Key, visitors can tour the largest all-masonry fort in the United States, built between 1846 and 1875 to defend the Gulf of Mexico, but never completed. The park is also renowned for its vibrant coral, lush seagrass, and migratory birds.
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Park Christiansted National Historic Site This historic site provides a unique perspective into life under Danish colonial rule in St. Croix. The park's seven waterfront acres feature historic buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, including a military fort, a custom house and a warehouse from the city's past as a major sugar producer and exporter. Visitors can learn about the role this city played in the international slave trade; more than 100,000 enslaved Africans arrived and were auctioned at the city's wharf over the course of 115 years.
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Report Made in America: Investing in National Parks for Our Heritage and Our Economy Yellowstone, Gettysburg, the Statue of Liberty and the Flight 93 Memorial are among the many national parks that we, as Americans, own together. Keeping this magnificent collection of places well-managed and open to everyone costs less than 1/13th of one percent of the federal budget—quite a bargain for a park system that inspires visitors from around the world and produces nearly 270,000 private sector jobs across the country.
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Report Healthy Parks Healthy People Community Engagement eGuide The Healthy Parks Healthy People Community Engagement eGuide is the first in a digital series to chronicle and share the development of Healthy Parks Healthy People programs in parks and communities all across the country. The eGuide helps park staff and partners discover the diversity of ideas, tools, and practical advice that can serve as an inspiration and resource to launch and sustain Healthy Parks Healthy People programs.
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Letter Opposition to the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act The House is poised to consider the "Conservation and Economic Growth Act," which includes the title, the "National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act." The undersigned organizations are strongly opposed to that provision and to the entire bill.
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NPCA at Work Create a Marine Reserve at Biscayne National Park A marine reserve will help protect the incredible resources of Biscayne for the benefit of all Americans, now and for generations to come.
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Victory No More Hogwash in Buffalo National River The state of Arkansas is closing an industrial hog farm and will prohibit future large-scale confined animal feeding operations in this protected watershed.
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Victory Yellowstone Is Worth More Than Gold Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signs 20-year mineral withdrawal that will prevent new mining north of the national park.
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Report Revitalizing Floyd Bennett Field Today we have the unique opportunity to develop a new flagship national park for New York by revitalizing Gateway National Recreation Area. This unpolished gem, with Floyd Bennett Field at its heart, is ready to be brought alive as the great urban national park it was intended to be, elevated to shine as the next jewel in the emerald crown of New York City’s great park system.
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Report Poll: Strong Bipartisan Support For National Parks According to a new poll commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Hospitality Association, national parks are cherished by Americans and voters want the federal government to ensure they are protected for the future. The survey was conducted by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research from June 12-17, 2012, among a national sample of 1,004 registered voters.
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NPCA at Work Working with Veterans to Protect National Parks For years, NPCA’s veterans program has worked to meaningfully engage the military community— including veterans, active duty, reservists and military families — in supporting national parks through service projects and a variety of advocacy actions.
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Victory Grand Canyon Protected from Threat of Mega-Development You helped to stop a massive development proposed just outside the boundary of Grand Canyon National Park that had the Park Service and park supporters worried about negative effects on the park—especially the dozens of fragile creeks, springs, and seeps that rely on underground water sources the development could have legally tapped.
Pagination