Search results for “Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve”
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Park White Sands National Park They may look like mounds of snow, but the dunes in this park are made of a rare form of crystallized gypsum. Because gypsum dissolves easily in water, rain would normally wash it away and carry it to the sea. In this part of the Chihuahuan Desert, however, the land forms a basin, trapping the mineral; water evaporates, leaving the gypsum behind, and wind and weather erode it over time into an ocean of glittering sand. The entire dune field is a massive 275 square miles (by comparison, the second-largest gypsum dune field in the world, Cuatro Ciénegas in Mexico, is only 8 square miles). Hiking and sledding over this vast white expanse of powder is a singular, otherworldly experience.
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Park Wind Cave National Park One of the country’s oldest national parks, Wind Cave combines rare mineral wonders underground with beautiful mixed-prairie habitat aboveground. Take a ranger-led tour to explore the unusual formations below the Earth’s surface, including cave walls that look like frost, textured honeycombs and even popcorn. You can also hike through some of the park’s 34,000 acres of wildlife habitat to see prairie dogs, pronghorn, elk and one of the last remaining herds of free-roaming, genetically pure bison in the country.
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Park Wolf Trap National Park for The Performing Arts This unique performance space is the only U.S. national park devoted to the performing arts. Managed through a public-private partnership, the arts center hosts a wide variety of entertainment each year, from pop singers to elaborate dance troupes to comedians. It features three separate performance venues — a large amphitheater, a smaller performance space and a Theatre-in-the-Woods especially for children — as well as walking trails and picnic spots to explore before or after the show.
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Park Vicksburg National Military Park More than 100,000 troops waged battle on this Civil War site from March 29 until July 4, 1863 in a campaign that proved crucial to the Union victory. High atop the Mississippi River, Jefferson Davis referred to Vicksburg as “the nail head that held the South’s two halves together.” After a 41-day siege and Confederate surrender at Vicksburg, the town would not celebrate the Fourth of July for 81 years. Today, the park includes a 16-mile auto tour around the battlefield, the restored ironclad ship USS Cairo, and Vicksburg National Cemetery, the final resting place of 17,000 Civil War soldiers.
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Testimony Impacts of Climate Change on the National Park System Testimony and attached reports on behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association in connection with the hearing by the Subcommittee on National Parks to receive testimony on the current and expected impacts of climate change on units of the National Park System.
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Report Growing Visitation in Utah’s National Parks Just over 14.4 million people from around the world visited Utah’s 13 national park units in 2016, a 21% increase from 2015 alone. People flock to these iconic landscapes to hike to breathtaking vistas, contemplate dark, starry night skies, and experience awe-inspiring sunsets over the parks’ famous sandstone spires and arches.
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Report Climate Change and National Park Wildlife: Risk and Opportunity America’s national parks are showing the signs of climate change. From Yosemite’s forests in California to the Gulf Stream waters of the Florida coast, from the top of the Rocky Mountains to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, these lands and the incredible diversity of life they support are all feeling the heat.
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Report Indiana Dunes Climate Change Workshop National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Service Climate Change Response Program are collaborating on a project focused on the development and application of sustainable strategies and tools for communicating science-based messages about climate change affecting local communities and the national parks.
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Press Release Groups Hail Legislation to Preserve Nationally Treasured Women's History Site Senator Mikulski introduces bill to include Sewall-Belmont House in National Park System
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Press Release Trump Administration Signs Executive Orders to Fast Track Energy Infrastructure Permitting Pipelines proposed near national parks would face less scrutiny under these new executive orders.
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Press Release Leasing Our Legacy: Lands Near Hovenweep National Monument Sold to Oil and Gas Bidders In its latest step towards 'energy dominance' at the sacrifice of national parks and other public lands, the Trump Administration advanced more than 30,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Southeast Utah today.
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Press Release Army Corps Backtracks on Clean Water Act Protections for Big Cypress National Preserve The National Parks Conservation Association joins fellow environmental advocates in expressing concern over this unsubstantiated flip-flop and calling for answers to many questions that the Army Corps’ reversal letter has raised.
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Press Release Amache National Historic Site Act Passes Senate Committee, Heads To Full Senate Consideration Japanese American survivors and descendants of the Amache Incarceration site are one step closer today to preserving the area into a national park site.
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Magazine Article In Black and White A new exhibition documents Ansel Adams’ abiding passion for the national parks.
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Press Release Interior Department Order Supports More Room for Wildlife to Roam $2 million investment could advance collaborative corridor conservation and restoration efforts for national park wildlife across the west, including pronghorn antelope that migrate to and from Grand Teton and Yellowstone.
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Press Release Feds Pump the Brakes on Desert Water Mining Scheme Statement by David Lamfrom, Director, California Desert and Wildlife Program, National Parks Conservation Association
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Press Release Historic World War II Hangars to be Restored at Gateway National Recreation Area Statement by Alexander Brash, Northeast Senior Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association
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Press Release State Senate Deserts California Desert, Endangers Mojave Trails National Monument Today, the California Senate Appropriations Committee refused to consider and vote on AB1000, the California Desert Protection Act. Authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, the legislation aimed to safeguard groundwater in California's Mojave Desert that sustains wildlife and parks including Mojave Trails National Monument and Mojave National Preserve and wildlife.
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Press Release Preserving Pullman's Historic and Architectural Heritage Earns CNI and NPCA Preservation Excellence Awards Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) receive the John Baird Award for Stewardship to acknowledge their advocacy work in creating the Pullman National Monument
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Blog Post Wild, Scenic, and Vulnerable: A Setback at St. Croix NPCA and its supporters stay vigilant against threats to national park rivers after losing a battle over a development project in Minnesota.
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Magazine Article Welcome to the Family! Three new parks joined the system this fall.
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Policy Update Position on H.R. 2546 & H.R. 2642 NPCA submitted the following positions to members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands ahead of a hearing scheduled for July 10, 2019.
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Press Release Bipartisan Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2019 Introduced Following UN Report on Global Biodiversity Crisis Bipartisan House and Senate legislation could benefit wildlife that travel beyond park boundaries, such as Los Angeles mountain lions in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
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Blog Post Positioning Pullman: What’s Next for Chicago’s New National Monument? Pullman National Monument is a must-see treasure of Chicago’s South Side. The formerly independent industrial town, now a landmark Chicago neighborhood, was entrusted last February to the National Park Service via a presidential proclamation.
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Blog Post A Little-Known Piece of History Reclaimed Many Americans will recognize this coming Monday, October 13, as a holiday honoring Christopher Columbus. Thanks to NPCA supporters, the citizens of Florida will also take this day to recognize an unsung hero who made one of our national parks possible: Lancelot Jones.
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Press Release In a Final Move, Obama Calls for Diversity Among Federal Land Management Workforce Parks group challenges new administration to make recommendations a reality
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Press Release Craters of the Moon Removed from Monument Review Chopping Block NPCA's response to Interior Secretary Zinke's decision today to remove Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, one of two national park sites, from the list of 27 national monuments under review.
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Policy Update Position on H.R. 1492 & H.R. 1572 NPCA submitted the following positions to members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands ahead of a hearing scheduled for July 18, 2019.
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Press Release Groups Challenge Trump Administration Over Gray Wolf Delisting The removal of Endangered Species Act protection from gray wolves in the lower-48 states threatens populations just beginning to return to national parks including North Cascades and Dinosaur National Monument.
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Blog Post NPCA-Sponsored Events Focus Attention on the "Ritchie Boys" and Their Legacy of Heroism from WWII In June, NPCA sponsored a two-day commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Camp Ritchie Military Intelligence Training Camp (MITC) in Cascade, Maryland, during WWII, the legacy of the “Ritchie Boys” who trained there, and the role of the National Park Service (NPS) in protecting and interpreting sites in America's military history.
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Blog Post NPCA Celebrates the Preservation of the Hoback Basin Just south of Grand Teton National Park, a Houston-based company had proposed to develop 136 natural gas wells on U.S. Forest Service lands that would surely have destroyed the Hoback Basin, an area cherished by Wyomingites for its spectacular scenery, recreational opportunities, and wildlife. Thanks to the work of Wyoming communities, conservation groups, and concerned citizens, these 58,000 acres will now be protected in perpetuity.
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Spotlight An Insider's Guide to the Four Corners Situated on the Colorado Plateau amid ancient volcanic mountains, statuesque buttes and sharp canyons, the Four Corners region where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet is rich in cultural and geological wonders.
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Resource Laws Waived for Border Wall Construction The Department of Homeland Security is waiving the following laws to build proposed sections of border wall in Arizona and California near national park lands.
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Magazine Article Man of Letters A third-generation stone carver, Nicholas Benson has left enduring marks on some of the park system’s most iconic monuments.
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Blog Post Telling a Supreme Story Only one national park site specifically interprets the history of a Supreme Court case. The enduring importance of this ruling continues to define what equality means in our systems of education.
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Blog Post Fort Donelson: A Big Battle on the War’s Frontier Commemorate the anniversary of a critical Civil War battle at a host of upcoming national park programs.
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Blog Post The Legacy of Fred Korematsu He fought against his forced imprisonment, all the way to the Supreme Court. Today, the National Park Service helps interpret the dark history behind World War II incarceration camps.
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Blog Post Standing with the Emotion of History Have you been to the USS Arizona in Hawaii where World War II began in the U.S.? Thank a park ranger for letting us all remember.
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Magazine Article Hush... A growing body of research shows that noise can be harmful to humans and animals. Can natural quiet be saved?
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Park Washington Monument National Memorial This 555-foot obelisk honoring America's first president towers above the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and is one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Visitors can get a wonderful 360-degree view from the observation area at the top. The interior of the monument contains nearly 200 memorial stones. These stones — some simple, some intricately carved works of art — were donated by states, cities, civic organizations and other nations in memory of President Washington. Twice each day, when staffing allows, the Park Service gives "walk-down tours," providing a detailed and fascinating history of the construction of the monument and stories about individual memorial stones for anyone willing to make the 900-step journey down by foot.
Pagination