FEATURED PARK
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Honoring Our National Park "Ladies" for Women's History Month
In 1906, 14 years before they were allowed to vote in a presidential election, the work of Virginia McClurg and Lucy Peabody led to the creation of Mesa Verde National Park. These women were passionate about protecting the history of the cliff dwellings of Southern Colorado and the history of the Ancestral Puebloans who lived there for more than 700 years.
And they weren't alone in their passion for the parks. In the early 1900s, Mary Belle King Sherman spearheaded progressive conservation leadership in the General Federation of Women's Clubs, whose several million members played a central role in the establishment of many parks--including Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon National Parks--and were integral in the passage of the enabling legislation of the National Park Service in 1916. For her tireless leadership, Sherman earned the nickname "national park lady."
Watch our Mesa Verde slideshow so you can see the amazing place that McClurg and others worked so hard to save. These pioneering women remind us that we all have a role to play in protecting our national parks for future generations.
Read More About McClurg and Mesa Verde > >
Watch the Slideshow > >
NPCA CAMPAIGN
Women's History Month
 March is Women's History Month, and a good time to reflect on the fact that, of the 391 units in the National Park System, only six directly commemorate the contributions of women to the development of the United States. A new bill, H.R. 3114, introduced by Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a trail commemorating the history of the women's rights movement. This bill complements Senator Clinton's bill in the Senate, S. 1816.
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your elected representatives in the House and Senate at 202.224.3121 and ask them to support women's history by co-sponsoring these important and timely bills.
NPCA AT WORK IN THE PARKS
Threat to Glacier National Park Runs Out of Gas
 NPCA celebrated a victory for Glacier National Park in Montana on February 22, when BP Energy Corporation announced that it was no longer seeking permission to drill for coalbed methane in the extremely sensitive environment of the Flathead Valley in British Columbia, right next to the border of the park. The project would have polluted the river that flows from Canada into Glacier and harmed the diverse wildlife in the park--including the highest density of inland grizzly bears in all of North America.
Due to public outcry--brought about in part by NPCA supporters like you--and the efforts of U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT), and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Glacier is now safe from this international threat.
NPCA AT WORK IN THE PARKS
Restoring Balance to Olympic National Park
 The fisher, a weasel-like animal about the size of a house cat, is once again roaming wild and free in Washington's Olympic National Park. Fishers have been missing from Washington state since the late 1800s due to habitat degradation and over-trapping. On January 27th, a small crowd of adults and school children watched the first three fishers shoot from their holding pens into the park's interior. This marks the first step in their complete restoration.
Over the next three years, the National Park Service and the state of Washington plan to reintroduce roughly 100 individuals, with input from the National Parks Conservation Association's Northwest office. Fishers, which feed primarily on small mammals such as chipmunks, shrews, snowshoe hares and porcupines, will better bring the park's predator/prey relationship into balance. The gray wolf is now the only native mammal missing from the park.
NPCA AT WORK IN THE PARKS
A Warm Welcome for Visitors to Assateague Island National Seashore
 On January 28, Assateague Island National Seashore hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new visitor center, a victory resulting from a sustained 20-year effort on the part of park advocates to obtain approval and funding for the project.
Retired U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes of Maryland mentioned NPCA in his keynote address. After the ceremony, Joy Oakes presented findings of NPCA's Center for the State of the Parks Report on Assateague. According to the recent study, Assateague Island National Seashore's health is threatened by non-native invasive species, heavy over-sand vehicle use, polluted waters from adjacent land use and development, and impacts of global warming. Funding and staffing shortfalls have affected nearly all facets of the park, including the preservation of its cultural treasures.
View Joy Oakes' Presentation > >
Earth: The Sequel
 Global warming will have disastrous consequences for America's
national parks. Glaciers are rapidly disappearing from the
national parks of Alaska, California, Washington and Montana;
Joshua trees may no longer exist at Joshua Tree National Park;
and a rising sea will drown Everglades National Park. The situation is dire.
But there is hope, and it's found within the pages of a new book that explores the race to reinvent energy and stop global warming. Earth: The Sequel, written by Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp and journalist Miriam Horn, reveals the all-out effort to turn our greatest environmental crisis into our greatest economic opportunity.
Go to www.earththesequel.com to order your copy now.
Grand Canyon: Bigger than Life
 In March, "Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk" will be screened in about 20 IMAX theaters and museums all over the country, with even wider release in the summer months. The film follows anthropologist Wade Davis and environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr. on a whitewater rafting trip through the canyon, accompanied by their daughters.
Part adventure story, part call to action, the film explains the world's growing water crisis using the Colorado River as a focal point. Robert Redford narrates the film, with songs and music from the Dave Matthews Band. Check your local listings for show times at a local theater or visit www.grandcanyonadventurefilm.com for more details.
FACES
Meet Ed at Art for the Parks
 NCPA is so fortunate to have such wonderful supporters behind us. From our supporters, donors, board, organizational allies and staff, NPCA has hundreds of thousands of people working to protect our national parks. And they show their support in a variety of ways. Arts for the Parks is one such supporter, and we think the work they do is worth sharing with you.
Arts for the Parks is not a new organization, but Ed's leadership is. For more than 20 years, Art for the Parks was connecting artists and NPCA. But in recent years, it looked like the annual contest might be coming to an end. Ed, who had followed the contest for some time, decided that a project like that was too great to lose. So he and his all-volunteer staff decided to try something new--putting the contest online. This help cut down on cost, and made it easier for artists to share their work. Artists pay a $40 dollar entry fee--and $25 of that goes to NPCA! In return, each artist receives a one-year membership to NPCA. And everyone gets to enjoy the wonderful art of America's parks.
Ed felt Arts for the Parks and its objectives were too important to lose. And he feels the same way about our national parks.
"I love our national parks because there is nothing that preserves the heritage of America more than our national parks. From Civil War battlefields to national monuments, Yosemite to the Everglades, our national parks are important. If they weren't preserved for future generations, we would have development where pristine land should be. Land should be saved to preserve our history and heritage. And that takes money and resources."
That's something we can all agree on, and we're glad to have allies like Ed and Arts for the Parks helping to protect these special places. Be sure to check out our slideshow of some of the artists' work, and you can learn more by visiting http://Artsforparks2007.wordpress.com.
Watch our Slideshow of the Winners >>
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Show your support for our national parks through the beauty of your own art. Enter the 2008 Arts for the Parks competition. Submit your art or photography at the 
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