WASHINGTON, D.C. – The nation’s leading voice for the national parks, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today announced it has launched a new podcast, Park Stories, which features compelling stories about national parks, including Bandelier National Monument.

“The Park Stories podcast gives NPCA an opportunity to share interesting stories about our national parks, and enrich public understanding and appreciation for these places and the people who care for them,” said NPCA Senior Director of Media Relations Andrea Keller Helsel.

The newest Park Stories episode, “Caretakers of Our Cultural History,” introduces listeners to graffiti removal artists or conservationists, as they are better known, at Bandelier. Up to a quarter of the 1,100 ancestral pueblo sites at Bandelier National Monument have been defaced by visitors with some type of graffiti. 

“Graffiti at Bandelier, a remarkable national cultural site, is one outcome of sustained operating funding shortfalls for our entire park system,” said David Nimkin, NPCA Southwest Regional Director. “Fewer interpretive services and rangers on the ground at our parks, limit our visitors full appreciation and reverence of these cultural icons. Podcasts provide a different and compelling method of sharing stories about our magnificent park treasures and some of the threats they face.”

Other episodes now online feature compelling stories about the buffalo soldiers in Yosemite National Park, the disappearing Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park, and philanthropy’s role funding the parks.

Most episodes are hosted by award-winning radio producer Jim Williams, a resident of New Mexico. Jim’s next episode will feature the dangerous Bufflegrass at Saguaro National Park.

Listen and subscribe to NPCA’s free Park Stories podcast at: http://www.npca.org/media_center/podcasts