Keep Our Parks Affordable!

“The Trump administration just proposed massive fee increases in 17 national parks -- increases that could see entrance fees jump from $25 to $70. And they’re only giving the public 30 days to comment. The administration claims this fee hike will help address the $11.3 billion maintenance backlog in national parks, but Interior Secretary Zinke estimates that the new fees could raise around $70 million annually. That’s just a tiny fraction of the maintenance backlog!”

This fee increase is ON TOP of a proposed $300 million budget cut.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/10/what-raising-fees-means-for-the-national-park-services-diversity-outreach/543927/

https://secure.npca.org/site/SPageNavigator/pepcfee.html

WHOA

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZawIPBAG_k)

California State Park SUPERBLOOM.

Canyonlands National Park sits under the desert sun nearly every day, but in the early morning hours when the air is cool and the sun is rising, a majestic glow of indigo filled this Utah valley with mist. The iconic Airport Tower can be seen in the distance, standing just behind the Washer Woman Arch. Photo courtesy of Sam Koerbel. 

MOTHER

Not strictly National Parks content but some dramatic shots of our beautiful home.

NP Maps - for you!

A kind, generous soul has been collecting National Parks maps and hosting them in one convenient website of everyone to find and enjoy!

This site currently has 1,474 free high-resolution national park maps to view, save, and download.

There are full park maps, trail maps, campground maps, topo maps, so many kinds of maps!

Find them all here!

This was recently posted to the Association of National Park Rangers Facebook page:

This morning former Director Jon Jarvis made this statement about recent events involving the National Park Service: "I have been watching the Trump administration trying unsuccessfully to suppress the National Park Service with a mix of pride and amusement. The NPS is the steward of America’s most important places and the narrator of our most powerful stories, told authentically, accurately, and built upon scientific and scholarly research. The Park Ranger is a trusted interpreter of our complex natural and cultural history and a voice that cannot not be suppressed. Edicts from on-high have directed the NPS to not talk about “national policy”, but permission is granted to use social media for visitor center hours and safety. The ridiculousness of such a directive was immediately resisted and I am not the least bit surprised. So at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta should we not talk about his actions to secure the rights to vote for African Americans in the south, or is that too “national policy”? At Stonewall National Monument in New York City, shall we only talk about the hours you can visit the Inn or is it “national policy” to interpret the events there in 1969 that gave rise to the LGBT movement? Shall we only talk about the historic architecture of the Washington, DC home of Alice Paul and Alva Belmont or is it too “national policy” to suggest their decades of effort to secure the rights of women can be linked directly to the women’s marches in hundreds of cities last weekend? And as we scientifically monitor the rapid decline of glaciers in Glacier National Park, a clear and troubling indicator of a warming planet, shall we refrain from telling this story to the public because the administration views climate change as “national policy”? These are not “policy” issues, they are facts about our nation, it is how we learn and strive to achieve the ideals of our founding documents. To talk about these facts is core to the mission of the NPS. During the Centennial of the National Park Service, we hosted over 300 million visitors (now that is huge) to the National Parks and most came away inspired, patriotic and ready to speak on behalf of the values we hold most dear. The new Administration would be wise to figure out how to support the National Park Service, its extraordinary employees and their millions of fans."

Badlands NP, badass.

These are very strange, very troubling times, my nature, science and Park-loving friends. The folks who took control of the White House on January 21st have some bizarre ideas about our freedom of speech and the dissemination of information that they, for some reason, feel threatened by. Science can be scary to some less-educated folks I suppose. 

Let’s hear it for Badlands National Park who tweeted out some climate-related facts (that’s right, FACTS) in response to the new administration forbidding the NPS from tweeting after the new president was offended by an aerial shot of his inauguration. (The Interior’s twitter has since been unlocked and the Badlands’ tweets have been deleted - but don’t worry, there are screenshots.) Oh and the EPA and other government agencies have been blocked from sharing actual science and other known factual information as well. 

Badlands is back to following the rules but some other accounts have popped up (and instantly acquired huge followings) to promote science and knowledge since the official accounts have been gagged.

Please follow and retweet AltNatParkSer for more “rogue” climate-change related tweets. And start planning a trip to the Badlands to show your support for science and facts.

Watch At age 100, how the national parks grant 'breathing space' on PBS.

The Yosemite Museum

If you follow the @postfortheparks instagram account, you will have already seen this news but...

A few days ago I received this letter notifying me that Yosemite is going to keep my painting in their museum collection. I’m guessing just tucked away in a folder somewhere but it still feels nice to OFFICIALLY gift the painting to the park. This morning I signed the deed of gift and sent it back to California - with a National Parks stamp, of course.

I am so honored and so humbled and said so in a note to the curator. I sort of knew how this project would evolve throughout 2015 but I didn’t realize it would still be continuing in a way until the end of 2016! 

As the year has been winding down, I’ve been missing this project a lot. I have received some orders for prints and it has been nice revisiting the process a little with the packing and shipping. I did the math and made a year-end donation to the National Park Foundation of 10% of the profits from all the Post For The Parks shop sales (and I’m glad I waited as it was DOUBLED by another supporter working with the NPF).

THANK YOU if you have ever purchased a print, liked a post or shared this project. It means so much to me and I hope that it is helping to preserve our public lands - even if just a little corner.

Happy Solstice and very Happy New Year.

Happy December, Friends! 

There is still plenty of time to order up some parks prints for holiday gift giving! And now through December 15th, all orders will include a FREE Post for the Parks logo lapel pin!

SHOP: postfortheparks.com

LOOK at these beautiful National Parks posters!!!

VOYAGEURS 8K

Ex Libris Exchange

Last week we went to see the Ex Libris Exchange show at the French Cultural Center here in Boston. It’s a show made up of art books and posters created by artists in Boston and France. The pieces are all in response to the 18th century journal of Georg Daniel Flohr, a young german-born soldier who fought in the American Revolution with the French Regimen. Flohr spent time in the U.S. then returned to France and created a detailed and illustrated journal. 

Why mention this on the Post for the Parks blog? Because of this little tidbit!

His words and illustrations provide us with a series of snapshots from the period and were used by the US National Park Service to plan Colonial Williamsburg.

Neat!

Although he had little formal education, Flohr immediately began recording his observations about everyday life in the New World with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Fascinated by Native Americans, the role of slaves in the economy, and “dating protocol,” Flohr became an unwitting documentarian and evolved into an amateur sociologist and naturalist. He wrote very little about the war itself, leaving that that to the Generals. - From About the Project

Similar to how Flohr didn’t chronicle the most obvious topic surrounding him, a number of the art books don’t address his journal directly but provide a more personal response from the artists. Others incorporate words or topics taken from his writing.

The media and styles were varied and very engaging. Most of the books were out on shelves and pedestals and gloves were provided so viewers could flip through and hold the books.

These pieces (above) by Alexandra Sheldon were some of my favorites. Her media-mixing, layering and illustrated travel journal look are so inspiring.

The show closes in Boston on November 1st but moves on to Strasbourg if you want to see it - and happen to be heading to France in the spring.

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish New Hampshire - I was here September 5, 2016

On the eve of the National Park Service centennial, President Barack Obama designated Maine's Katahdin Woods and Waters a national monument.

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My fingers are still crossed for a new National Park park this year but I’ll settle for another monument right here in New England!

More coverage:

http://mpbn.net/post/its-official-obama-declares-katahdin-woods-and-waters-national-monument#stream/0

http://www.nrcm.org/projects-hot-issues/woods-wildlife-and-wilderness/a-new-national-park-recreation-area-in-northern-maine/

(via Boarding the train to Glacier National Park | The Japan Times)