National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis. Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
National Parks Traveler Podcast
It’s a problem that’s been coming for quite some time, and one that really comes as no surprise. The large landscape national parks that are home to many species of wildlife have been turning into biological islands as development hems them in. You can look back to 1993 when the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative launched to begin to see the discussion around opening up these parks through migratory corridors.
There is a wide acceptance that we have drifted too far away from nature, and that we need to pull closer. Many have called for 30 by 30 - conserving 30 percent of nature by 2030. The 2022 State of the Birds Report pointed out that more than half of bird species normally found in habitats as diverse as forests, deserts and oceans in the United States are in decline. Climate change is a major factor in those declines, but human development also plays a key role by chewing into wildlife habitat and creating biological islands.
Exceptionally well-preserved fossils of Columbian Mammoths and other Ice Age animals are found at the Waco Mammoth National Monument in Waco, Texas. In this unit of the National Park System, you can see the only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoth mothers and their offspring and get a rare glimpse into the behavior and ecology of these immense extinct giants.
National parks offer some of the best birding in the country. From Acadia National Park in Maine to Big Bend National Park in Texas and over to Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii, you could spend days looking overhead for a species to add to your life list.
When unprecedented flooding roars through a national park, shredding major roads that access that park, it rightfully could be pointed to as the top story in the National Park System. And while Yellowstone National Park was that park, not only the flooding, but the lack of human casualties and rapid recovery, rank that story as arguably the top one in the park system in 2022. But that wasn’t the only major story that came out of the parks this year.
We’re just about to close the books on 2022, and what a year in the National Park System it has been. We’ve seen catastrophic flooding, drought, and crowds, lots of crowds.
Today though, we’re going to focus on some of the positives about being out and about in the parks. Editor Kurt Repanshek is joined by contributing editors Lynn Riddick and Kim O’Connell to discuss their favorite adventures and stories from the parks this past year.
Andrew Revkin, noted journalist, author, and educator, has been reporting on climate change for the better part of 35 years. In a conversation with the National Parks Traveler’s Lynn Riddick, he shares stories of his experiences, and how he is adapting his work to foster conversations rather than the traditional form of interrogative storytelling. He regards today’s communication climate as an inseparable part of the Earth system, and vital in our response to real climate issues.
It’s been quite a year in the National Park System when the subject turns to unexpected bills. There was the historic flooding that hit Yellowstone National Park in June, monsoonal flooding that struck Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve later this past summer, and even flooding at Vicksburg National Military Park that caused significant damage.
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The Essential RVing Guide
The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.
This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.
You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.
So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.
