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FEATURED PARK
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, North Carolina
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Flat Rock, North Carolina, Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site's 264 acres include the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sandburg, scenic countryside, and the barn complex where Mrs. Sandburg raised dairy goats. The home appears relatively unchanged since the Sandburgs lived there from 1945 to 1967. The family's personal possessions, donated to the National Park Service by Mrs. Sandburg, fill the house and give visitors a sense of what the Sandburgs' lives were like in North Carolina.
Visitors to the park can walk the same trails that the Sandburgs walked, and interact with descendants of Mrs. Sandburg's goats, which are cared for by park staff and volunteers. Young volunteers show the goats in local livestock competitions, just as Mrs. Sandburg once did.
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PARK VICTORIES
Landmark Victory for Joshua Tree National Park
 For more than a decade, NPCA and its members have been fighting the proposed Eagle Mountain Landfill--the nation's largest proposed garbage dump in canyons located in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park wilderness.
Development of the Eagle Mountain landfill would have severely damaged significant portions of Joshua Tree by producing air pollution, light pollution, and noise pollution. The dump would have threatened the long-term survival of wildlife like the endangered desert bighorn sheep and desert tortoise, as well as destroying park wilderness.
Thankfully, on November 10th, NPCA achieved a landmark victory in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, invalidating the land exchange needed for the dump to proceed. Thanks to your support and well-timed email advocacy--in addition to the help of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic--NPCA was successful in protecting Joshua Tree National Park!
A Win for Cuyahoga Valley National Park
 A little more than a year ago, 635 beautiful acres inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park were being threatened with the development of luxury homes. Thankfully, Congress recently designated $4 million to purchase that large parcel of land at Blossom Music Center, located within the boundary of the park.
NPCA broke news of the development threat at Cuyahoga with our 2008 report, America's Heritage for Sale, which detailed the 1.8 million acres of land currently available for purchase within our national parks. Since then, NPCA's Midwest Regional Office has worked closely with The Trust for Public Land to make the Cuyahoga purchase a Congressional priority.
Thanks to the broad support from Ohio Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with U.S. Representatives Betty Sutton (D-OH), Steve LaTourette (R-OH), and Tim Ryan (D-OH), the land has been protected.
PARKS IN THE NEWS
America Has a New National Park!
 It's official: Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial near San Francisco, California, is now the 392nd unit in the National Park System! The National Park Service administered the site for years as an "affiliated area"--in other words, it was a significant area outside the National Park System that was preserved with the Park Service's assistance. On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the "Defense Authorization Act," legislation that transfers the current memorial and additional acreage to the National Park Service and provides for the creation of a new visitor center.
"The addition of Port Chicago demonstrates a commitment to make America's best idea even better--more relevant to Americans, more expressive of our nation's history, and more representative of our diversity," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.
NPCA's pacific regional staff worked for years to make this unit part of the National Park System, based on the belief that it is important to tell the stories of all Americans--including the hundreds of African Americans who risked their lives to work here during World War II and the 320 sailors who were killed in the dreadful explosion of 1944. We are honored to welcome this newest addition to the national park family.
Learn more about the park > >
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Read: "A Silent Explosion" in National Parks magazine.
Restoring America's Everglades
A New Bridge Along Tamiami Trail Helps Restore Water Flow to the Everglades
 On December 4, 2009, the National Park Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on a new bridge along the Tamiami Trail, just north of Everglades National Park in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Tamiami Trail has long acted as a dam, stopping the natural flow of water through the greater Everglades ecosystem into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. The park is literally dying of thirst--and as a result, wading bird populations have declined along with the quality of their habitat.
Twenty years in the making, this groundbreaking project represents an important step forward in restoration. A one-mile bridge will allow more water to flow south into Everglades National Park, improving conditions for native wildlife. Much work still remains: Ten miles of road continue to block water flow into the park. But the National Park Service is currently developing a plan for a second phase to build additional bridging.
The Perfect Gift for Park Lovers
 Fruit baskets are dull. Gift certificates are uninspired. And chocolate never lasts long enough. But Ian Shive's new book--The National Parks: Our American Landscape--is the ideal holiday gift for anyone who loves the national parks and enjoys first-class photography. You've seen his work in nearly every issue of National Parks magazine for three years running—from the railyards of Steamtown National Historic Site to the waters of the Everglades and the peaks of Denali, and now Shive has collected hundreds of his best images for a book that benefits NPCA.
An introduction from our own Tom Kiernan accompanies essays by National Parks editors who detail the experience of collaborating with Shive in our Washington offices and in the field. But the photos are the real draw, and the iconic landscapes are all here: Arches and the Grand Canyon, Glacier and Zion, Yellowstone and Yosemite. So, too, are the sights that many of us overlook: the pure white gypsum of White Sand Dunes, a jellyfish floating in the Channel Islands, a tarantula and a scorpion underfoot in Big Bend.
Shive's book is been so popular it's now on back order at Amazon and many other booksellers, but there are still copies available on Barnes & Noble's website, for $23.36 plus shipping--order yours now.
OUR LATEST REPORT
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: A Resource Assessment
 NPCA's Center for State of the Parks recently released a report on the condition of cultural and natural resources at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. According to this assessment, cultural resources are in "fair" condition overall; natural resources were not rated due to insufficient information.
Caring for 50 historic structures is a daunting task that would be made easier with the addition of a historic preservation specialist and additional maintenance personnel. An archivist is also needed to reorganize the park's extensive archival collection.
Park staff work hard to protect resources--including Carl Sandburg's home and thousands of Sandburg family possessions donated to the National Park Service--and to ensure the author's works and legacy remain relevant for current and future generations. The park also receives excellent support from the surrounding community. The Flat Rock Playhouse, the official state theater of North Carolina, performs Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories and other pieces of the writer's work each summer in the park's amphitheater, while grants secured by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara support the park's curriculum-based education program.
Legislation passed in May 2008 authorizes the Park Service to add up to 115 more acres to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, which helps park staff preserve more scenic views and obtain the land needed for a visitor center with additional parking.
View the report > >
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This year, more Americans than ever are doing their holiday shopping online. The mall at 
