Formal Partnership Established Among National, State, and Local Park Organizations

Looking for a way to improve your child’s mental and physical health? Look no further than your nearest park or natural area.

“Numerous studies conclude that time spent in outdoor settings decreases stress, inspires creativity, promotes social development, and encourages physical fitness,” said National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “A new partnership among the National Park [...]

New Quarters to Feature National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges

50 DOI Sites Selected for the America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program

WASHINGTON, DC — Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon National Parks will be the first sites commemorated in a new quarter-dollar program announced today by the U.S. Mint.

Starting in April of 2010, the America the Beautiful Quarters Program will begin producing quarters with reverse [...]

Help Make America’s Best Idea Even Better

September 26: A Day of Service and Celebration in Your National Parks
WASHINGTON, DC (September 2, 2009)  – Join the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation in making America’s Best Idea – the national parks – even better.   On September 26, National Public Lands Day, the national parks will host visitors and volunteers for [...]

Cuyahoga Valley National Park America’s Best Idea: National Park Getaway

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio – Need a break from big city rock-and-roll? Unwind by skipping rocks and rolling through the countryside by bike or train at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, just a short drive from Cleveland and Akron. It’s a great place to enjoy the waning days of summer before they pass you by.
Get outdoors and walk [...]

Experience America’s Best Idea this Summer – New Web Feature: Great National Park Getaways

WASHINGTON – “Mom, Dad, I’m bored!” So goes the dreaded refrain of a kid with a case of the summer squirmies. No worries – national parks can shake the squirmies.
A new web feature, www.nps.gov/getaways, launching today, will highlight one, of the almost 400 national parks, every week this summer to help families find places to [...]

National Parks – The Place to be for Family Fun this Summer

Washington, D.C. – The National Park Service (NPS) is pleased to kick-off the upcoming summer travel season with many new and exciting adventures awaiting park visitors, as well as traditional programs that families come back time and again to enjoy. From the shores of Maine and Alaska to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the [...]

Celebrate the Bicentennial of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln at America’s National Parks

WASHINGTON – This year marks the Bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. He was born on February 12, 1809 in relative obscurity in central Kentucky. He is arguably the most important President in the history of this nation by virtue of the crisis of disunion that faced him when he took office as the [...]

New Year’s Resolution from National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar

WASHINGTON – Out with the old, in with the new—let’s get rid of those tired old New Year’s resolutions and do something different—pledge to take a kid to visit a national park!
As Director of the National Park Service, I have spoken across the country of our children being “seduced by the dark side of video [...]

Concealed Carry Permit Not Always an Exemption

RALEIGH, N.C. – The announcement that concealed firearms will be allowed in some national parks and wildlife refuges has prompted questions about what is allowed at areas held by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, including game lands.
The Interior Department issued a rule on Dec. 5 that allows an individual to carry a concealed firearm if [...]

New Book Encourages Children to Discover National Parks

Students Cheer Kids Passport to Your National Parks Companion
Washington, DC- National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar unveiled a new book designed to make national parks more meaningful to young visitors. More than 100 enthusiastic students from John Eaton Elementary School in Washington, DC joined Bomar, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and other dignitaries [...]