 FEATURED PARK
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Texas
What comes to mind when you think about the United States' colonial history? Is it Captain John Smith? The thirteen colonies? Stories of England's colonies usually take center stage--but it was the Spanish who first arrived from the Old World. Their colonies were established earlier, lasted longer, and are often considered the most successful in the New World.
Today, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas plays a key role in telling the story of Spanish colonialists and Native Americans of the Southwest. The park preserves the largest intact concentration of Spanish Colonial buildings in the United States today, including exquisite mission churches with their Romanesque, Moorish, and Spanish baroque designs, dating as far back as 1720. More than 1.2 million people visit San Antonio Missions National Historical Park each year.
All four mission churches--San Jose, Concepcion, San Juan, and Espada--are still active Catholic parishes and churches. They represent an unbroken connection from present day hustle and bustle of the seventh largest city in the country, to the time when San Antonio was part of the sparsely populated northern frontier of New Spain.
In addition to the churches, the park protects one of the last known surviving ranches from the mission era: Rancho de las Cabras. The iconic American cowboy traces back to ranches like this one. But farming culture has a rich history here, too: One of the site's most impressive attractions features the oldest grist mill in Texas, at Mission San Jose. Created in 1794, the grist mill was restored in 2001 and is operating again, grinding wheat on its original set of millstones.
View the slideshow > >
The Park Service Welcomes Americans of All Abilities to Experience Our National Parks
 This October, America is observing National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which recognizes the one in six Americans who have some level of disability. But what is our country doing to make sure they can access our national parks?
The Park Service has taken steps to ensure that visitor centers, restrooms, and other facilities are equipped to welcome Americans of all abilities. Cape Cod National Seashore, for instance, offers accessible restrooms and boardwalks, visitor centers, and a specially designed trail with guide ropes and Braille markers for the visually impaired. Summertime visitors to Cape Cod can use two wheelchairs with special balloon tires to access the beach--in fact the chairs are so popular that the Park Service is considering purchasing another one!
But a chronic lack of federal funding forces many national parks to rely on private donations to complete important projects, like building a ramp onto the beach at Cape Hatteras or a wheelchair-accessible trail at the Grand Canyon.
Right now, Congress is working on the national parks' 2008 budget, which contains a much needed $200-million increase for park operations. If Congress launches the National Park Centennial Challenge program, up to $100 million in new federal funding would match private donations that could fund projects such as new wheelchair-accessible campground toilets in South Carolina's Congaree National Park.
Read More About Access in National Parks > >
Fall Issue of National Parks Magazine Online
 The fall issue of National Parks magazine includes a piece on hiking in Olympic National Park, the Park Service's innovative work to address global warming, and photographer Frans Lanting's portrait of evolution using images captured in the national parks.
A selection of articles is included online at www.npca.org/magazine (for every single word and every stunning photograph, subscribe online). You'll also find a web-only slideshow with architectural renderings that illustrate how national parks may evolve in a world where global warming is a reality.
Bonus Feature
One of National Parks magazine's editors journeys into Yellowstone National Park to understand how global warming is affecting the landscape. Find out what she has to say > >
Make NPCA Your Facebook Cause!
 Are you a Facebook member? Make NPCA your cause! Here's an easy way to support NPCA and introduce your friends to us:
Next time you are logged into facebook, add the "causes" application to your profile and designate NPCA as the recipient of the money you raise.
After the application is added to your profile follow these easy steps:
1) Click the "Causes" link under the applications in your profile.
2) Click the "Create a New Cause" button on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
3) Click the "browse beneficiaries" link, input National Parks Conservation Association in the "keyword" search at the left, and click "start cause".
4) You will be prompted for text and a logo, which you can get from our profile.
Thanks for supporting NPCA!
NPCA AT WORK IN THE PARKS
NPCA Leads Volunteer Efforts in National Parks Across the Country
 On September 29, NPCA teamed up with National Park Service staff across the country to celebrate the 14th annual National Public Lands Day, a nationwide volunteer effort to enhance America's public lands. This year, NPCA hosted hands-on volunteer activities in eight national parks across the country.
Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. drew more than 300 enthusiastic volunteers to pick up trash and remove weeds and invasive species. Volunteers also helped with dike restoration and lotus pond projects.
Meanwhile, in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, more than 60 volunteers spent the day in Big Meadows learning to identify invasive species that threaten the high concentration of rare native plants and then removing the invasive species.
At Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania, volunteers helped clean up the Schuylkill River Floodplain.
Out West, NPCA hosted 20 volunteers at several parks. At Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, volunteers worked with the NPS Science and Resource Management Team to restore vegetation at a site that was disturbed when buildings were moved to the Beaver Creek area to provide employee housing. Despite the rain and temperatures that hovered near 40 degrees, our hardy volunteers planted 250 trees and shrubs.
At Saguaro National Park in Arizona, 50 volunteers removed invasive buffelgrass in the Tucson Mountain District.
In Colorado, more than 190 volunteers helped with a variety of projects, including realigning the trail between the Bowen parking lot and the Baker trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Storm Recovery Coalition (which includes NPCA) hosted an event at Washington's Mount Rainier National Park. One hundred fifteen volunteers contributed 529 volunteer hours to trail work, seed collecting, campground clean-up, litter pick-up, and more.
Lastly, at Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, NPCA hosted volunteers to restore habitat near Redwood Creek.
We would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers who took time out of their busy weekends to care for our nation's most precious places.
FACES
Meet Melissa C. Smith
 Invasive species continue to plague our national parks. Melissa Smith, an NPCA super-activist, gets it--and she is focusing her graduate work on finding solutions. Here's her story:
"I'm so honored to be considered a super-activist! I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise, though. I've served the National Park Service since the summer of 2003 when I was a Student Conservation Association intern in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park. I fell in love with the job and returned the next summer as an interpretive ranger for the park's marine tours. I've also served two summers in Glacier National Park and worked last winter in Everglades National Park. I cannot downplay my emotional connection to these places and how deeply they've affected me.
I'm not currently working for the Park Service, but am pursuing an advanced degree in ecology to combat a major problem in our national parks--invasive plants. I believe these places have given me so much, and it is only right that I contribute to them as well.
When did I realize that I was a park-junkie? I suppose it was after a long day on the trail in Glacier. We were eating dinner at Hole in the Wall campground and saw a group of bighorn sheep atop a ridge. As the sun set behind them, a large ram stood regally at the top, as if to say, 'You are in my country.' Even the most callous camper cannot deny the spiritual aspect of these places and their profound meaning and beauty." | 
Ever since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park nearly 12 years ago, the drama in the Lamar Valley has played out like a soap opera for all to see. On Sunday, November 4, the drama comes to the small screen and an audience of millions, as PBS unveils an episode of Nature entitled "In the Valley of the Wolves."
