FEATURED PARK
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California


Evidence that something was brewing beneath Lassen Peak in northeastern California first appeared in 1914, as billows of steam exploded from the 10,457-foot volcano. The following May, Lassen Peak began spewing hot rocks and lava, which combined with deep mountain snow to create a mudflow known as lahar. The half-mile wide flow devastated the peak's northeast side. Three days later, an avalanche of fast-moving, hot lava erupted and followed the same path as the earlier lahar flow.

Lassen Volcanic National Park was established in 1916. Active volcanism and hydrothermal activity still draw visitors to the region. In fact, Lassen Volcanic National Park contains the most extensive, intact network of hydrothermal resources west of Yellowstone National Park, including fumaroles, mudpots, and boiling springs. Here you can feel the planet's heartbeat. Lassen Volcanic National Park is very much alive.

View the slideshow > >

Finishing the Story

In September, millions watched Ken Burns' film, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, which told the story of how our national parks came to be. Burns' film chronicled the changing American land ethic that gave rise to our national parks.

The film spans the years 1851-1980, ending with passage of the sweeping Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. NPCA asked renowned national park expert Kim Heacox to help finish the story. In his series, Finishing the Story, Heacox picks up where the film leaves off, carrying the baton into the last three decades.

Read: "Finishing the Story" by Alaska writer and photographer Kim Heacox.

National Parks Second Century Commission's New Report

A first in-a-generation effort to examine the national parks today, and chart a vision for their second century of service to the nation.

Over the past year, members of the independent National Parks Second Century Commission traveled to national parks around the country, met with experts, and listened to the American people discuss national parks today, so they could chart a vision for their future.

This year-long analysis concluded with the release of Advancing the National Park Idea--a report that outlines a vision and plan of action to ensure our national parks are well preserved for their second century.

As the next step in the process, park supporters have been invited to contribute their thoughts by participating in an online survey designed to gauge the public's interest in the commission's recommendations. This information is crucial in identifying support and resources for policy-makers as park advocates such as NPCA move into the implementation phase of the process toward the second century of our park system.

To view the full report, committee findings, and survey on how you can help, visit: www.VisionfortheParks.org.

Protect the Parks with the help of the IRA Rollover!

Congress re-authorized legislation that allows donors to make charitable gifts from their IRA accounts during tax year 2009 and avoid paying any tax on the withdrawal. If you are age 70 1/2 or older and would like to make a tax-free gift by December 31, 2009, this may be a great way to help protect the parks and ease tax burdens at the same time.

To qualify:

You must be age 70 1/2 or older at the time of the gift.

Transfers must be made from a traditional or Roth IRA account by your plan provider DIRECTLY to the charity. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do NOT qualify.

Benefits--Qualified charitable IRA distributions:

Can total up to $100,000 in 2009 (if your spouse has a separate IRA account, you can each contribute up to $100,000 per tax year);

Can be on a tax-free basis (not subject to income, gift, or estate tax)

Are not subject to the normal limits on charitable gifts or other reduction rules.

To learn more about the IRA Rollover or other information about planned giving with NPCA, contact: Morgan Dodd, Director of Gift Planning, toll-free at 1.877.468.5775 or e-mail mdodd@npca.org or visit www.npca.org/giftplanning.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Climate Legislation Advances in the Senate

Climate Legislation Passes Key Senate Committee

On November 5th, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee approved a climate change "cap and trade" bill that would cut greenhouse gasses and establish a national program to safeguard national parks and other protected lands from climate change impacts.

The Clean Jobs and American Power Act would invest one percent of the revenue generated from the sale of greenhouse gas emissions permits into the protection of air, water, land, and wildlife that sustain both our national parks and our communities.

Given the enormity of climate change impacts on our parks and public lands, NPCA had been seeking up to five percent of the cap and trade revenue to restore ecosystems and help them withstand the increase in droughts, wildfires, floods, and invasive species linked to climate change.

We are grateful to the 11,000 people who responded to our recent action alert and wrote their senators in support of 5 percent for natural resources. We will continue to make the case for greater spending on natural resources as the climate bill moves through the Senate. A Senate floor vote is expected early next year.

NPCA builds support for climate legislation to protect parks and wildlife

As we reported last month, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced legislation that aims to safeguard America's natural resources, including our national parks, from the effects of climate change. The Natural Resources Climate Adaptation Act, which is co-sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Udall (D-NM), would establish a national framework to coordinate the work of all federal and state agencies responsible for management of public lands and wildlife. The bill is similar to natural resource protection language in the cap and trade bill, however it lacks a dedicated source of funding.

NPCA will be working in the months ahead to build support for the Natural Resources Climate Adaptation Act to make sure that wildlife and natural resources in the United States are protected for generations to come. We're happy to report that Michael Bennet (D-CO), signed on as a co-sponsor last week. NPCA will be sending out an action alert on this historic legislation in the near future, and we are grateful for your continued support of our efforts to protect the national parks.

Feel Free: A Cause for our National Parks Concert & Film Premiere Draws 10,000 to Central Park

September saw the biggest event in NPCA's history: the New York premiere of Ken Burns's epic documentary, Our National Parks: Americas Best Idea. The combination of a balmy evening; a big stage; picnickers packed tightly across a giant lawn; and the Counting Crows, as well as Alison Krauss, Gavin DeGraw, Carole King, and Peter Yarrow, among others, performing in between clips from the film.

NPCA's President Tom Kiernan and the filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan served as the evening's hosts. All of this in Central Park, New York City! For a glorious evening, our national parks and NPCA dominated the entertainment world. With the staging of this mega-event, NPCA culminated a year's worth of Ken Burns-related events across the country; more than 60 events held to announce the release of this sweeping documentary film about our national parks.

Entitled "Feel Free," this event anchored NPCA's National Parks Week NYC, which included nearly 40 events happening throughout New York City. The National Park Service crowded the calendar with activities ranging from bike rides, to candlelit tours, to special evening visits at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Partners included the American Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, Smithsonian American Art Museum, New York Harbor Parks Conservancy, Brooklyn Children's Museum, and others, all helping to host special park-related activities attracting thousands of residents and visitors. Spirits soared as we celebrated America's greatest treasures: our national parks.

Want to know more about National Parks Week NYC? Visit www.feelfree.org for all the details!

IN THIS ISSUE

• Featured Park: Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
• Finishing the Story
• National Parks Second Century Commission's New Report
• Protect the Parks with the help of the IRA Rollover!
• Campaign Update: Climate Legislation Advances in the Senate
• Feel Free: A Cause for our National Parks
• Parks In the News
• Travel with NPCA: Flora, Fauna, & Fireflies: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Resole America & NPCA are excited about a new partnership that will not only extend the life of your favorite boots and shoes, but will also help raise money for NPCA initiatives throughout the coming year.

A new level of service and convenience comes from more than 30 years in the "product maintenance" business, and you'll likely agree that after resoling, your shoes or boots are better than new, because they're already broken in.

And Resole America goes even further to help the environment: the organization recycles almost 60 percent of worn parts generated through the repair process.

Resole America: Enthusiastic supporters of NPCA.

Why not give the gift of the national parks to the special people on your list? By giving gift memberships, you'll save time and energy, and you'll help protect America's treasures.

Your gift recipients will receive a year's subscription to National Parks magazine, plus our plush fleece blanket.

Give the Gift of Membership >>

Jon Jarvis, a 32-year veteran of the National Park Service, was recently sworn in as its 19th director. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar administered the oath of office.

"Our national park heritage will surely benefit from Jon Jarvis's leadership," says NPCA's president Thomas Kiernan. "Jon Jarvis is a seasoned professional and strong leader who understands the challenges of managing national parks and the importance of inspiring excellence among the thousands of National Park Service professionals who are the stewards of our national treasures for our children and grandchildren."

%cond_events%

TRAVEL WITH NPCA
Flora, Fauna, & Fireflies: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
September 2-11, 2010


Whether it's your first visit to the Smokies or your fiftieth, a private excursion with nationally-recognized wildlife experts makes for the ideal trip. The creator of the world's longest-running bear study, Dr. Michael Pelton, will guide this tour and introduce you to other wildlife experts every day. Among them, you'll learn about the discovery of a unique species of firefly from the scientist who first identified them, while witnessing their synchronized light displays in person. Enjoy the genuine Southern hospitality at charming Blackberry Farm and the Swag Country Inn.

For more information or to reserve your space, call us at
800.628.7275, email us at travel@npca.org, or go online to www.npca.org/fireflies.

Feedback? Story ideas? Email us at npca@npca.org.

Are you having trouble making a donation online? Call us at 1.800.628.7275 Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time and one of our representatives will be able to assist you.

From All the Staff at NPCA,
Thank you for your time and dedication in helping to enhance and protect our national parks for present and future generations.
NPCA's park-protection work is made possible by the generous support of people like you. Membership is just $25, and includes a subscription to our award-winning National Parks magazine, recently recognized for excellence in coverage of environmental tourism by the Society of American Travel Writers. Join Us Today!

Park Lines is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association. E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275).

To learn more, visit us at www.npca.org

"Never in its history has this nation needed the National Park System more. It stands as the collective memory of where we have been, the sacrifices we have made to get here, and who we mean to be as a people. By investing in the preservation, interpretation, and restoration of these symbolic places, we offer hope and optimism to each generation of Americans."
--Jon Jarvis, National Park Service Director  

Dear %pa_first_name%,

Welcome to National Parks Conservation Association's online community, and the Park Lines newsletter. We know that you're a caring and dedicated supporter of our national parks, and we thought that you'd enjoy the exclusive park information that Park Lines provides. So take a look and learn about the great places you are helping to protect and the great work NPCA is doing with your generous support. Thanks!

(If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter and other e-communications from us, please follow the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this message).


FEATURED PARK
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona


Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns has created a sweeping documentary film about our national parks. The National Parks: America's Best Idea, premiered September 27th to great acclaim. Ken Burns's film tells the stories of American citizens who fought to protect our most precious places and to create our national parks.

The Grand Canyon is one such place that owes its existence to dedicated Americans who realized something precious was at risk. It started in 1888 when the Wetherill brothers found the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. Soon a Scandinavian anthropologist expressed interest in taking artifacts back to Sweden--a move that sparked his arrest, followed by the surprising discovery that he had broken no law.

John F. Lacy led the effort to pass the Antiquities Act in 1906, giving the president the power to create national monuments and to protect American antiquities. Theodore Roosevelt invoked the new Antiquities Act to protect cultural treasures, such as Mesa Verde, and also to conserve remarkable geological features, such as the Grand Canyon. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives more than 4 million visitors a year from around the world.

View the slideshow > >

OUR LATEST CAMPAIGNS
Safeguard Our National Parks from Climate Change

Senate on verge of historic vote on climate legislation

Earlier this year the, U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark legislation that would reduce pollution that contributes to global warming, and provide our national parks with unprecedented new funding to combat climate-related damage already unfolding across our treasured lands. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote on similar legislation this week, followed by a full Senate vote, possibly later this fall.

Getting this climate legislation enacted is among NPCA's top priorities. National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis has called climate change the greatest threat the parks have ever faced. As chronicled in NPCA's recent report, climate change is profoundly threatening national park wildlife, from the coral reefs of Biscayne to the grizzlies of Yellowstone. Unless we act now to reduce global-warming pollution and safeguard wildlife habitat from rapidly advancing changes, many species of plants and animals could be driven from the parks--and even to the point of extinction.

Please help NPCA safeguard the national parks and their wildlife by taking action now. Urge your senators to vote for legislation that cuts global-warming pollution and protects our national parks. Decisive action now can help bring about a more hopeful future for wildlife and for ourselves.

Click here to take action today!

National Park Champions

In his latest film, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Ken Burns tells the story of how our national parks came to be. It is the story of Americans from all walks of life—artists, explorers, soldiers, scientists, vacationers—rich and poor, who fell in love with special American places and worked to save those places for everyone to enjoy.

Fortunately, that story doesn't end with Burns's film. The story continues today, as individual Americans continue the fight to protect parks big and small around the country.

We invite you to listen to the stories of today's park champions in their own words. Learn how Maxine Johnston became the godmother of Big Thicket National Preserve. Find out why Clarence Moriwaki has spent a decade working to ensure that no one forgets about the 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly removed to internment camps during World War II.

Listen Today > >


Make Room on Your Coffee Table: National Parks: Our American Landscape

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. Now photographer Ian Shive has collected hundreds of his best images for a new book entitled The National Parks: Our American Landscape, and he's set aside a percentage of the profits to benefit 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. It's a great gift for any park lover you know, and it's not a bad way to pick your next vacation spot, either. Through special arrangement with the publisher, NPCA members can purchase the book at 35% off the cover price by entering coupon code EANP0454 at www.earthawareeditions.com (Earth Aware Editions, 204 pp., $39.95 retail).


TRAVEL WITH NPCA
Grand Canyon Raft: Phantom Ranch to Diamond Creek
September 2-11, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular destinations in North America; experience it as few others do. Hike down to the canyon floor where you meet expert raft guides. Each day of the next week, you'll spend several hours floating down the Colorado through renowned whitewater. Opt to participate in easy to strenuous side hikes or simply rest in the beauty of the canyon along the way. You'll also learn the geological and cultural history of the canyon region from Park Service rangers and your NPCA leader. For more information please call us at 800.628.7275, email us at travel@npca.org, or go online to www.npca.org/whitewater.


OUR LATEST REPORT
Center for the State of the Parks: Effigy Mounds National Monument

NPCA's Center for State of the Parks recently released an assessment of the condition of cultural and natural resources at Effigy Mounds National Monument. The park is in northeastern Iowa and is home to some of the nation's best examples of American Indian-built earthen mounds, several historic structures, and significant cultural landscapes. American Indians constructed the mounds--some of which are in the shape of animals--sometime during the Woodland Period (1000 B.C. to A.D. 1000). According to this assessment, Effigy Mounds National Monument's natural and cultural resources are in "fair" condition overall.

Monument staff are doing all they can to protect Effigy Mound's natural and cultural treasures with the resources available. But internal and external threats continue to endanger the monument's treasures. A lack of funds makes it difficult to complete top-priority resource projects such as constructing a walking trail to some of the monument's most popular mounds; collecting oral histories from people associated with the park's past; recording oral histories of employees (past and current); and surveying, controlling, and monitoring the invasive non-native garlic mustard plant. What's more, a lack of funding and staff, in addition to a dearth of planning and management documents, limits the staff's ability to fully protect and manage park resources.

In the face of these and other challenges, Park Service staff are accomplishing important resource-protection projects--including treating degraded landscapes with prescribed burns, returning historical species to the landscape, reintroducing the once-extirpated peregrine falcon, and providing popular teacher workshops to help local educators bring the history and natural resources of the monument into their classrooms.

Learn more about the park and threats it faces > >


National Parks Magazine: Fall 2009

The Fall issue of National Parks magazine takes a look at the life of a fire lookout in North Cascades, details the journey of photographers working to preserve Glacier National Park, and relates the experience of the Second Century Commission—a group of high-profile park lovers who carved out an agenda for the parks' next 100 years. And if you enjoyed Ken Burns's recent PBS film, you may want to spend some time getting to know John Grabowska, the OTHER national parks filmmaker, whose handiwork is shown at visitors centers all over the country. National Parks magazine is a member benefit, but you can read a few selections from each issue at www.npca.org/magazine.

IN THIS ISSUE

• Featured Park: Grand Canyon National Park
• Our Latest Campaigns:
• Safeguard Our National Parks from Climate Change
• Pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act
• National Park Champions
• New Photo Book Celebrates the Parks
• National Parks Magazine: Fall 2009 Issue
• Our Latest Report: Effigy Mounds National Monument
• Travel with NPCA: Grand Canyon Rafting Excursion

If you watched just one episode of Ken Burns's The National Parks: America's Best Idea, you probably noticed that the film was less of a travelogue and more about citizens protecting our national parks. We hope the inspirational stories in the film sparked people to ask: "What can I do to help protect America's national parks?"

One simple action you can take today to ensure parks are protected for future generations is to urge Congress to pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act. This bill is designed to reduce the maintenance backlog in national parks and on other public lands. And thousands of people--including young people who hear the call of service--could have the opportunity to serve our public lands and create long-lasting bonds with the places that represent America's best idea.

Write to your members of Congress today and urge them to pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009.

Why not give the gift of the national parks to the special people on your list? By giving gift memberships, you'll save time and energy, and you'll help protect America's treasures.

Your gift recipients will receive a year's subscription to National Parks magazine, plus our plush fleece blanket.

Give the Gift of Membership >>

Are you on Facebook? Is your birthday in the next 30 days?

Facebook's Birthday Wish is a great way to promote a cause you care about! You can "donate" your birthday to help NPCA protect our national parks! If your birthday is in the next 30 days, make a Birthday Wish, and ask friends and family to make a donation to our cause.

Facebook makes it easy by providing numerous ways to notify your friends and family of this year's Birthday Wish. Please visit this link to start your Birthday Wish today!

And a Happy (Early) Birthday from your friends at NPCA!

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Follow NPCA on Twitter

The National Parks Conservation Association has launched a Twitter account! If you use Twitter, or have friends and family who do, be sure to follow NPCA for the latest national park news.

Twitter is a social networking site that enables users to post short updates and link to additional information. Follow our updates about NPCA and the national parks so we can keep you abreast of national park news and the work we are doing to protect the parks.

Check out our Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/NPCA

Feedback? Story ideas? Email us at npca@npca.org.

Are you having trouble making a donation online? Call us at 1.800.628.7275 Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time and one of our representatives will be able to assist you.

From All the Staff at NPCA,
Thank you for your time and dedication in helping to enhance and protect our national parks for present and future generations.
NPCA's park-protection work is made possible by the generous support of people like you. Membership is just $25, and includes a subscription to our award-winning National Parks magazine, recently recognized for excellence in coverage of environmental tourism by the Society of American Travel Writers. Join Us Today!

Park Lines is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association. E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275).

To learn more, visit us at www.npca.org

"I think the Public Lands Service Corps is a wonderful opportunity for Americans to contribute domestically to our most precious resource, our national parks and public lands. It saddens me to see our national parks in a state of disrepair--we are entrusted to take care of these treasures for the next generation. "
--Thomas, from Cambridge Massachusetts, in a letter to his legislators regarding the Public Lands Service Corps Act  

Dear %pa_first_name%,

Thank you for taking action at Care2 on behalf of our national parks! We would like to welcome you to the National Parks Conservation Association's online community. We thought that you'd enjoy the exclusive park information that our monthly newsletter Park Lines provides. So take a look and learn about the great places you are helping to protect when you take action on behalf of our national parks. Thanks!

(If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter and other e-communications from us, please follow the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this message).


FEATURED PARK
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona


Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns has created a sweeping documentary film about our national parks. The National Parks: America's Best Idea, premiered September 27th to great acclaim. Ken Burns's film tells the stories of American citizens who fought to protect our most precious places and to create our national parks.

The Grand Canyon is one such place that owes its existence to dedicated Americans who realized something precious was at risk. It started in 1888 when the Wetherill brothers found the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. Soon a Scandinavian anthropologist expressed interest in taking artifacts back to Sweden--a move that sparked his arrest, followed by the surprising discovery that he had broken no law.

John F. Lacy led the effort to pass the Antiquities Act in 1906, giving the president the power to create national monuments and to protect American antiquities. Theodore Roosevelt invoked the new Antiquities Act to protect cultural treasures, such as Mesa Verde, and also to conserve remarkable geological features, such as the Grand Canyon. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives more than 4 million visitors a year from around the world.

View the slideshow > >

OUR LATEST CAMPAIGNS
Safeguard Our National Parks from Climate Change

Senate on verge of historic vote on climate legislation

Earlier this year the, U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark legislation that would reduce pollution that contributes to global warming, and provide our national parks with unprecedented new funding to combat climate-related damage already unfolding across our treasured lands. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote on similar legislation this week, followed by a full Senate vote, possibly later this fall.

Getting this climate legislation enacted is among NPCA's top priorities. National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis has called climate change the greatest threat the parks have ever faced. As chronicled in NPCA's recent report, climate change is profoundly threatening national park wildlife, from the coral reefs of Biscayne to the grizzlies of Yellowstone. Unless we act now to reduce global-warming pollution and safeguard wildlife habitat from rapidly advancing changes, many species of plants and animals could be driven from the parks--and even to the point of extinction.

Please help NPCA safeguard the national parks and their wildlife by taking action now. Urge your senators to vote for legislation that cuts global-warming pollution and protects our national parks. Decisive action now can help bring about a more hopeful future for wildlife and for ourselves.

Click here to take action today!

National Park Champions

In his latest film, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Ken Burns tells the story of how our national parks came to be. It is the story of Americans from all walks of life—artists, explorers, soldiers, scientists, vacationers—rich and poor, who fell in love with special American places and worked to save those places for everyone to enjoy.

Fortunately, that story doesn't end with Burns's film. The story continues today, as individual Americans continue the fight to protect parks big and small around the country.

We invite you to listen to the stories of today's park champions in their own words. Learn how Maxine Johnston became the godmother of Big Thicket National Preserve. Find out why Clarence Moriwaki has spent a decade working to ensure that no one forgets about the 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly removed to internment camps during World War II.

Listen Today > >


Make Room on Your Coffee Table: National Parks: Our American Landscape

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. Now photographer Ian Shive has collected hundreds of his best images for a new book entitled The National Parks: Our American Landscape, and he's set aside a percentage of the profits to benefit 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. It's a great gift for any park lover you know, and it's not a bad way to pick your next vacation spot, either. Through special arrangement with the publisher, NPCA members can purchase the book at 35% off the cover price by entering coupon code EANP0454 at www.earthawareeditions.com (Earth Aware Editions, 204 pp., $39.95 retail).


TRAVEL WITH NPCA
Grand Canyon Raft: Phantom Ranch to Diamond Creek
September 2-11, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular destinations in North America; experience it as few others do. Hike down to the canyon floor where you meet expert raft guides. Each day of the next week, you'll spend several hours floating down the Colorado through renowned whitewater. Opt to participate in easy to strenuous side hikes or simply rest in the beauty of the canyon along the way. You'll also learn the geological and cultural history of the canyon region from Park Service rangers and your NPCA leader. For more information please call us at 800.628.7275, email us at travel@npca.org, or go online to www.npca.org/whitewater.


OUR LATEST REPORT
Center for the State of the Parks: Effigy Mounds National Monument

NPCA's Center for State of the Parks recently released an assessment of the condition of cultural and natural resources at Effigy Mounds National Monument. The park is in northeastern Iowa and is home to some of the nation's best examples of American Indian-built earthen mounds, several historic structures, and significant cultural landscapes. American Indians constructed the mounds--some of which are in the shape of animals--sometime during the Woodland Period (1000 B.C. to A.D. 1000). According to this assessment, Effigy Mounds National Monument's natural and cultural resources are in "fair" condition overall.

Monument staff are doing all they can to protect Effigy Mound's natural and cultural treasures with the resources available. But internal and external threats continue to endanger the monument's treasures. A lack of funds makes it difficult to complete top-priority resource projects such as constructing a walking trail to some of the monument's most popular mounds; collecting oral histories from people associated with the park's past; recording oral histories of employees (past and current); and surveying, controlling, and monitoring the invasive non-native garlic mustard plant. What's more, a lack of funding and staff, in addition to a dearth of planning and management documents, limits the staff's ability to fully protect and manage park resources.

In the face of these and other challenges, Park Service staff are accomplishing important resource-protection projects--including treating degraded landscapes with prescribed burns, returning historical species to the landscape, reintroducing the once-extirpated peregrine falcon, and providing popular teacher workshops to help local educators bring the history and natural resources of the monument into their classrooms.

Learn more about the park and threats it faces > >


National Parks Magazine: Fall 2009

The Fall issue of National Parks magazine takes a look at the life of a fire lookout in North Cascades, details the journey of photographers working to preserve Glacier National Park, and relates the experience of the Second Century Commission—a group of high-profile park lovers who carved out an agenda for the parks' next 100 years. And if you enjoyed Ken Burns's recent PBS film, you may want to spend some time getting to know John Grabowska, the OTHER national parks filmmaker, whose handiwork is shown at visitors centers all over the country. National Parks magazine is a member benefit, but you can read a few selections from each issue at www.npca.org/magazine.

IN THIS ISSUE

• Featured Park: Grand Canyon National Park
• Our Latest Campaigns:
• Safeguard Our National Parks from Climate Change
• Pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act
• National Park Champions
• New Photo Book Celebrates the Parks
• National Parks Magazine: Fall 2009 Issue
• Our Latest Report: Effigy Mounds National Monument
• Travel with NPCA: Grand Canyon Rafting Excursion

If you watched just one episode of Ken Burns's The National Parks: America's Best Idea, you probably noticed that the film was less of a travelogue and more about citizens protecting our national parks. We hope the inspirational stories in the film sparked people to ask: "What can I do to help protect America's national parks?"

One simple action you can take today to ensure parks are protected for future generations is to urge Congress to pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act. This bill is designed to reduce the maintenance backlog in national parks and on other public lands. And thousands of people--including young people who hear the call of service--could have the opportunity to serve our public lands and create long-lasting bonds with the places that represent America's best idea.

Write to your members of Congress today and urge them to pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009.

Why not give the gift of the national parks to the special people on your list? By giving gift memberships, you'll save time and energy, and you'll help protect America's treasures.

Your gift recipients will receive a year's subscription to National Parks magazine, plus our plush fleece blanket.

Give the Gift of Membership >>

Are you on Facebook? Is your birthday in the next 30 days?

Facebook's Birthday Wish is a great way to promote a cause you care about! You can "donate" your birthday to help NPCA protect our national parks! If your birthday is in the next 30 days, make a Birthday Wish, and ask friends and family to make a donation to our cause.

Facebook makes it easy by providing numerous ways to notify your friends and family of this year's Birthday Wish. Please visit this link to start your Birthday Wish today!

And a Happy (Early) Birthday from your friends at NPCA!

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Follow NPCA on Twitter

The National Parks Conservation Association has launched a Twitter account! If you use Twitter, or have friends and family who do, be sure to follow NPCA for the latest national park news.

Twitter is a social networking site that enables users to post short updates and link to additional information. Follow our updates about NPCA and the national parks so we can keep you abreast of national park news and the work we are doing to protect the parks.

Check out our Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/NPCA

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From All the Staff at NPCA,
Thank you for your time and dedication in helping to enhance and protect our national parks for present and future generations.
NPCA's park-protection work is made possible by the generous support of people like you. Membership is just $25, and includes a subscription to our award-winning National Parks magazine, recently recognized for excellence in coverage of environmental tourism by the Society of American Travel Writers. Join Us Today!

Park Lines is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association. E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275).

To learn more, visit us at www.npca.org

"I think the Public Lands Service Corps is a wonderful opportunity for Americans to contribute domestically to our most precious resource, our national parks and public lands. It saddens me to see our national parks in a state of disrepair--we are entrusted to take care of these treasures for the next generation. "
--Thomas, from Cambridge Massachusetts, in a letter to his legislators regarding the Public Lands Service Corps Act