In This Issue
Featured Park: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
NPCA at Work in the Parks:
Keeping Invasive Species Out of Park Waters
Protecting Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve
NPCA Appeals Housing Development by New River Gorge
Campaign Update: The Gettysburg Casino: A Losing Proposition
Triple the Impact of Your Gift to NPCA
Travel with NPCA to the Tallgrass National Preserve
You're Invited
NPCA Call for Volunteers
Featured Park: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
If you're thinking of spending a day at the beach this summer, you're probably envisioning a trip to the ocean. But consider this, with 64 miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore may be perfect for your "beach" vacation. Indeed some Michiganders think it's like the ocean, only better because swimmers don't have to contend with sharks and jellyfish!
In addition to white sandy beaches, Sleeping Bear Dunes also features magnificent sand dunes that reach up to 400 feet above the lake--the world's largest collection of fresh water sand dunes. Lake Michigan and its shoreline were carved out by the advance and retreat of huge glaciers over the last two million years. In northwestern Michigan, where the park in located, the ice retreated as recently as 12,000 years ago, leaving behind a lake full of melted ice and edged with limestone deposits that form the base for the sand dunes on top. In parts of the parks, visitors can climb the dunes. Children particularly enjoy rolling back down the dunes after the long climb up!
American Indians were the first people to tell the story of the dunes and the islands just offshore. The Ojibwe Indians told the story of the mother bear and her two cubs swimming across Lake Michigan to flee a forest fire. The cubs couldn't stay above water, and drowned. The Great Spirit turned the cubs into the Manitou Islands and their mother waits for them forever, in the form a giant sand dune along the shore looking out over the water. It is a powerful story of creation and loyalty. It reminds us too that spending time out of doors with our friends and family this summer is a great way to strengthen the bonds between us and forge memories that will last a lifetime.
If You Go: The park offers an outstanding combination of natural and cultural resources including historic sites, such as lighthouses, the barns, farms, and orchards of Historical Port Oneida Rural District, and a maritime museum, camping, swimming, guided hikes, bird watching, and more.
The National Park Passport Stampers Convention is being held near Sleeping Bear Dunes NL on August 12, 2006. Visit the National Parks Travelers Club website to learn more. NPCA President, Tom Kiernan, is the featured speaker.
Resolve to Protect our National Parks!
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore faces the same problems as many of our treasured national parks-continuing increases in nearby development and traffic, a diminishing night sky, air- and water pollution, and more. But working together, we can protect Sleeping Bear Dunes and all of America's national parks. Make a gift today.
NPCA At Work in the Parks:
Keeping Invasive Species Out of Park Waters
While the shores of Lake Michigan offer the quintessential beach experience with beautiful water and white sandy beaches, the lake is also a vital natural ecosystem, home to 78 different species of fish. This habitat is under threat from invasive species, such as the Asian Carp, which can grow to 100 pounds. Its voracious appetite devastates habitat that native fish need to survive.
As a co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, NPCA helped secure $400,000 that will keep Asian Carp from threatening Great Lakes parks like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Isle Royale National Park. The funding secured in June 2006 allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to operate an electronic barrier designed to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.
Visit the Healing Our Waters Coalition, co-chaired by NPCA.
Protecting Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve from Unregulated Recreational All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Abuse
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, referred to as the mountain kingdom of North America, is the largest unit in the National Park System. The park includes the continent's largest assemblage of glaciers and the greatest collection of peaks over 16,000 feet, including Mount St. Elias, the second highest peak in the United States. Wrangells is a crown jewel of the park system, but illegal recreational ATV use in the park is damaging park resources in and around nine trails and jeopardizing the very reason for the park's designation.
NPCA, Alaska Center for the Environment, and The Wilderness Society filed a lawsuit Thursday, June 29, challenging the National Park Service over the illegal recreational ATV use in the park, to prevent further damage and to encourage responsible park management. The lawsuit does not seek to restrict access to the park by local subsistence users living in resident zone communities around Wrangells.
Press Release on Wrangells Lawsuit
See the damage to impacted trails in Wrangells from ATVs:
NPCA Appeals Housing Development by New River Gorge
Located in southern West Virginia, New River Gorge National River is one of the oldest rivers on the continent. The park is surrounded by areas of cultural and natural history, attracting visitors to enjoy its scenic views and diverse recreational opportunities.
Recently, Fayette County approved the Land Resource Corporation’s (LRC) "Roaring River" project to build more than 480 houses along ten miles of the New River Gorge. An analysis by the National Park Service revealed that 80 of the 480 houses built would be visible from popular scenic overlooks inside the park. Although county officials and the LRC stated in public hearings that the development would not impair the scenic views of the New River Gorge, neither has provided a technical analysis to support this conclusion.
In response to these threats, NPCA, along with three other groups, recently filed a legal appeal against Fayette County. A court date has been set for July 19, which will likely be followed by public hearings in the coming months. For more information, contact Field Representative Erin Haddix at 202.455.3916 or click here.
Campaign Update
The Gettysburg Casino: A Losing Proposition
As we celebrate the 143rd anniversary of the battle at Gettysburg, Americans are reminded of Gettysburg's unique role in our history. Sadly, that history is threatened by the proposal to build a 3,000-slot casino one mile from Gettysburg National Military Park.
As the nation's premier classroom on the American Civil War, Gettysburg is a unique family-friendly town that allows visitors to learn about a time in our history that shaped who we are today. A casino seems at odds with this atmosphere and with the sacred nature of the land on which so many gave their life for our country.
We urge you to write the Pennsylvania Gaming Board Commission to deny Chance Enterprises' proposal to build a casino. Address your letters to:
Mr. Tad Decker, Chair
PA Gaming Control Board
P.O Box 69060
Harrisburg, PA 17106
pgcb@state.pa.us
For more information, contact Pennsylvania Program Manager Cinda Waldbuesser at 215.327.2529 or read the NPCA press release.
Do You Know How You Can Triple the Impact of Your Gift to NPCA?
Thanks to an extraordinary Matching Challenge Grant from an anonymous donor, you can triple the impact of your gift! When you inform NPCA of your bequest pledge, establish a charitable gift annuity, or contribute an endowment gift, your commitment will be matched with $2 for every $1 you contribute. For more information, please call Morgan Dodd or Sherie Jones toll-free at 1-877-468-5775 or e-mail us at giftplanning@npca.org.
Travel with NPCA to Tallgrass National Preserve
Come experience the head high "sea of grass" in one of America’s newest national parks in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. Step into the pace of a small town lifestyle and enjoy your stay in a historic hotel along the route of the Santa Fe Trail. For more details visit www.npca.org/travel or call 1.800.488.4080.
Learn More About the Trip
You're Invited
Third Annual National Parks Family Day
The Third Annual National Parks Family Day in Roeding Park, Fresno, California is right around the corner! Please join us on Saturday, July 8, 11:30 to 4:30. Located at the entrance of Storyland and Playland in Roeding Park, this free event allows residents the opportunity to learn first-hand about Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. For more information, visit the Family Day website.
Yellowstone to Yukon Exhibit at New York's American Museum of Natural History
Spectacular photographs of landscapes and wildlife, including bears, moose, wolves, and wolverines, emphasize the diverse flora, fauna, and geology of the region that spans Yellowstone National Park north to the Yukon in Canada. This area connects habitats so that wide-ranging animals can travel unimpeded by human structures and developments. This new, traveling photography exhibition takes viewers on a journey through the wilderness as well as the rapidly developing areas of the North American West, from Wyoming to the Yukon Territory, to explore one of the most ambitious corridor initiatives to date. Yellowstone to Yukon opens on July 15, 2006, and will be on view through January 15, 2007.
For more information, visit American Museum of Natural History's website.
Sunday Hikes in Shenandoah
Join NPCA staff and members for free guided Sunday hikes in Shenandoah National Park. Throughout the summer and fall, visitors will enjoy a different trail and learn about important issues facing our national parks. Hikes begin July 16 and continue through October 22. For more information, contact Virginia Program Manager Catharine Gilliam at 540.460.5105. To view a complete schedule, click here.
NPCA Call for Volunteers
Niagara Movement Centennial Commemoration At Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia
NPCA is currently on the lookout for 10 to 12 volunteers interested in assisting with event logistics at the Niagara Movement Centennial commemoration taking place August 18-20, 2006, at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (WV).
Volunteers must be 18 or older and live within driving distance of the park, or be willing to provide their own transportation and accommodations. Volunteers will have the opportunity to assist NPCA staff with a variety of tasks including public outreach and event set up and break down. All volunteers must register with NPCA prior to the event. For more information, please contact Joan Randall at jrandall@npca.org.
Northwest Regional Office Seeks Volunteers
For the last two summers regional staff and volunteers in the Northwest have met with over 15,000 national park visitors and received their comments about insufficient park funding that they, in turn, delivered to Congress. This year, as NPCA begins to build a national parks movement leading up to the Centennial of the National Park Service (10 years away), we'll be educating visitors on ways they can help protect the national parks we all love so much. Volunteers are needed to:
- talk to visitors as they come by our table,
- help set-up and take down table, tent, and materials,
- collect comments from park visitors, and
- have fun enjoying the national parks!
If this sounds like something you would enjoy, here is the list of parks where we will be working this summer:
- Friday, July 21-Sunday, July 23 at Mt. Rainier National Park
- Friday, August 4-Sunday, August 6 at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
- Friday, August 25-Sunday, August 27 at Crater Lake National Park
- Saturday, September 2-Monday, September 4 at North Cascades National Park
Please contact Shane Farnor, Program and Volunteer Coordinator, Northwest Region, with questions or to reserve your spot today for this fun and exciting volunteer opportunity in Northwest national parks. Shane is looking forward to hearing from you! Call him at 206.903.1444, extension 24 or email him at
sfarnor@npca.org.
Central Valley Office—Tabling in the Parks
The Central Valley office of NPCA’s Pacific regional office has several tabling events scheduled in the parks this summer and they could use a hand from NPCA volunteers. When tabling, NPCA and our volunteers provide visitors with park fact sheets and information, NPCA brochures, and publications highlighting park issues. NPCA also provides postcards for the visitors to sign and send to their congressional representative, asking for their support of the parks.
Here are the dates and parks scheduled so far for July:
- July 22 & 23, Yosemite
- July 29, Sequoia and Kings Canyon
If you are available to help out, please contact Laine Hendricks in the Central Valley Field Office at 559.229.9343 or
lhendricks@npca.org to confirm your participation. Dates are subject to change, so please contact her before arriving.
From All the Staff at NPCA,
Thank you for your time and dedication to helping enhance and protect our national parks for present and future generations.
NPCA's park protection work is made possible by the generous support of people like you. An introductory membership is just $15, and includes a subscription to our award-winning National Parks Magazine. Join us Today!
National Park Explorer is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association. Contact us at TakeAction@npca.org or write to us at 1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036.
Visit us online at www.npca.org.
