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How to be a park ranger

Jan 21, 2019
You don't have to major in environmental sciences.
Andrew LaValle switched careers to spend more time outdoors.
Andrew LaValle

The rekindling of fire lookout towers

Oct 26, 2018
How one state is reinvesting in a century old method to fight wildfires.
A fire lookout tower in Pennsylvania.
Andrei Taranchenko/Flickr

The private dollars that help fund our national parks

Oct 25, 2017
The National Park Foundation helps fill the gap when the Park Service's $3 billion budget falls short.
Point Reyes National Seashore
Share the Experience/Angie Marcelynas

Here’s the company that makes those National Park and Smokey Bear signs

Jun 23, 2017
One woman started it out of a garage and now they make 25,000 signs and markers a year
Wood Product Signs and Rocky Mountain Aluminum workers posing with Smokey the Bear signs.
Courtesy Wood Product Signs and Rocky Mountain Aluminum

At 100 years old, the national parks need $12 billion of TLC

Aug 24, 2016
With more visitors and sites to maintain, the National Park Service is playing catch up.
A view of the "Morning Glory" hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Celebrating 100 years of National Parks

Feb 11, 2016
A conversation with famed mountaineer Conrad Anker.
A view of Denali, formerly known as Mt. McKinley, on September 1, 2015 in Denali National Park, Alaska.
Lance King/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

America’s national parks, a century of nature and economics

Jan 18, 2016
Early numbers show more than 300 million visits in 2015, a new record.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most popular in the nation.
Matthew Paulson/Flickr via Creative Commons

National parks consider adding Wi-Fi

Nov 3, 2014
Quick, I need to take a selfie with this geyser.

Travel plans canceled because of shutdown? How about a refund?

Oct 3, 2013
National parks are closed, so vacations are ruined. Vacations are ruined, so vacationers are asking for refunds -- and sometimes they're actually getting them.