 FEATURED PARK
Everglades National Park, Florida
Everglades National Park turns 60 years old on December 6, 2007!
Everglades National Park is celebrating its 60th birthday this month! The park was established in 1947 to conserve the region's amazing diversity in plant and animal life, and protects over 1.5 million acres of a unique subtropical habitat. It is the 3rd largest national park in the lower 48 states and the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River.
Like the "rivers of grass" that dominate the Everglades landscape, hurricanes are a recurring and natural part of the ecosystem in South Florida. Recently, hurricanes Katrina and Wilma devastated the area known as Flamingo in Everglades National Park. All existing structures, including the visitor center, lodge, restaurant, and cabins, were severely damaged or destroyed. NPCA is working to ensure that the redevelopment will enhance the visitor experience, include "green" technologies, and restore the natural habitats of America's Everglades.
Learn More > > Click here to learn more about NPCA's vision for building the park.
If You Go > > Birds are one of the park's key attractions, and with 366 species to observe, birding is a popular activity. Other attractions include boating, snorkeling, camping, and hiking.
View the slideshow > >
NPCA's LATEST PODCAST
Park Stories: Caretakers of Our Cultural History
 If the Smithsonian is the nation's attic, then the National Park Service is most certainly the entire house. The Park Service cares for the wealth of America's archaeological sites, cultural treasures, and historic artifacts. Park Stories host Jim Williams introduces the Park Service professionals doing some of that essential work at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, where preservationists are removing graffiti left by recent visitors on the park's 800-year-old cliff dwellings.
Download Today > >
HOLIDAY IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS
The White House Christmas Tree Features Our National Parks
 For this year's holiday celebration, the tree in the Blue Room at the White House features ornaments honoring our national parks. The tree is decorated with 347 ornaments hand-made by artists whose designs represent America's national parks, memorials, seashores, historic sites, and monuments. Click here to see close-up examples of these hand-painted ornaments!
Mrs. Bush is shining a light on our national parks in anticipation of the National Park Service Centennial in 2016. A long-time supporter of the parks, the First Lady enjoys annual hikes in the parks, and even lives in a national park--the White House is one of the nation's 391 sites in the Park System. Click here to learn more about White House or "President's Park" as it is known in the Park Service.
NPCA AT WORK IN THE PARKS
Score One for the California Condor!
 NPCA helped score a major victory for the California condor this fall when Governor Schwarzenegger signed California Assembly Bill 821 into law, requiring that hunters use only non-lead ammunition when hunting big game and coyotes in the condors' range.
Listed as an endangered species, the California condor recovery process has suffered extensively from lead poisoning, caused when condors ingest the lead bullets or bullet fragments from animal carcasses shot with the toxic ammunition and left by hunters.
Since 2003, Pinnacles National Monument has participated in the California Condor Recovery Program, releasing 19 juvenile condors into the park. However, the process was hampered as the recovery teams were often recapturing birds to treat them for lead poisoning.
AB 821 eliminates the threat posed by lead ammunition to condors, and it includes the birds' historic ranges. So as this giant, majestic species returns to its old haunts, birds who take up residence in other national park units like the Santa Monica Mountains or Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks can safely forage outside the park boundaries.
FACES
Meet Shane
 Sometimes we find our superstars a little closer to home. Shane Farnor, Senior Program and Volunteer Coordinator in NPCA's Northwest Regional Office, spends his time both enjoying our national parks and working to protect them. Here's what Shane has to say:
"I've had the good fortune of traveling to various park units, as part of my job and for my own pleasure. I have seen first-hand the grandeur and uniqueness of American icons like Yellowstone, Redwoods, and Crater Lake. I have experienced goosebumps at Appomattox Court House, Ellis Island, Ford's Theatre, and Fort Clatsop. I have been inspired to pen my own poems and stories about the America I see after visiting places like Carl Sandburg's Home and Longfellow National Historic Sites. I could go on.
When I visit a unit of the National Park System, I am able to experience for myself what sets this country apart from others. I had read about people, places, and events in school--but to visit national parks is to learn again. History, social studies, and science come to life in a way I never experienced in the classroom or at the library. I've heard the National Park System referred to as America's treasure chest. I like this metaphor. There is always something new to explore and learn, either about my country or, even better, about myself.
The United States led the world in protecting large, wild areas and meaningful places for the greater public to enjoy. Countries around the globe have emulated our efforts in setting aside places that are unique in natural beauty and have cultural and historical significance. This is something to be proud of. Think of the foresight exercised with the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. As the world's population continues to explode, the importance of protecting wild, sacred, unique, and historic places is becoming clearer and clearer for those who may have ever doubted that need.
That's why I support NPCA and the work it does. Speaking up for the protection of places that mean something to me is patriotic. It's American. I can't sit idly by and let casino lights illuminate the monuments of Gettysburg! I can't let Katmai's bears be hunted! I can't let my Junior Ranger friend, Nataly, miss out on a learning experience because the parks don't have the money to hire interpretive rangers! I simply can't. There's too much at stake and, by golly, I'm here to help make a difference! To me, this is what it means to be American--speaking up and taking action for something you believe in."
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