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Photo Harry Teng / Wikimedia Common

Corporate Role in Parks Recalls Earlier Era, Presents New Challenges

This summer saw a flurry of critical articles centered on a proposed change in how the National Park Service solicits and recognizes private donations, including from corporate entities. But is the link between conservation and corporations actually new? And what does it reveal about deeper connections between economic change in the United States and the manner in which the country manages its public lands and historic sites?

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Guide to the Parks – Past, Present and Future

Last summer, I taught a college course on the History of U.S. National Parks. At the time, I lamented the relative lack of high-quality, scholarly research on recent National Park history to share with my students. Fortunately for me, when I teach the class again this spring, I will now have the book I was looking for – the recently published A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks.

Read More »

Back to the Future for National Parks

Could a “back-to-the-future” approach to National Park policy aid the agency in setting goals for the 21st century? Might the 1970s, the era that brought us stagflation and disco hold some clues as to what the future might bring for conservation in the United States?

Read More »

Anniversary of the NPS: Building on a Legacy?

This post , NPS and Anniversaries, first ran in our September 2015 newsletter. We are re-printing it now in an effort to spark conversation not only about the NPS centennial, but also the legacy of the Obama Presidency and National Parks more generally. After almost 8 years, what do you see as the primary imprint of the Administration on the National Park System and other public lands? What will be the long term impacts of the administration’s efforts to protect resources on a landscape scale and tell the history of all Americans? What about the direction of the 2016 Centennial? And most importantly, what will be the emphasis of the next administration?

Read More »
Photo Harry Teng / Wikimedia Common

Corporate Role in Parks Recalls Earlier Era, Presents New Challenges

This summer saw a flurry of critical articles centered on a proposed change in how the National Park Service solicits and recognizes private donations, including from corporate entities. But is the link between conservation and corporations actually new? And what does it reveal about deeper connections between economic change in the United States and the manner in which the country manages its public lands and historic sites?

Read More »

Guide to the Parks – Past, Present and Future

Last summer, I taught a college course on the History of U.S. National Parks. At the time, I lamented the relative lack of high-quality, scholarly research on recent National Park history to share with my students. Fortunately for me, when I teach the class again this spring, I will now have the book I was looking for – the recently published A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks.

Read More »

Back to the Future for National Parks

Could a “back-to-the-future” approach to National Park policy aid the agency in setting goals for the 21st century? Might the 1970s, the era that brought us stagflation and disco hold some clues as to what the future might bring for conservation in the United States?

Read More »

Anniversary of the NPS: Building on a Legacy?

This post , NPS and Anniversaries, first ran in our September 2015 newsletter. We are re-printing it now in an effort to spark conversation not only about the NPS centennial, but also the legacy of the Obama Presidency and National Parks more generally. After almost 8 years, what do you see as the primary imprint of the Administration on the National Park System and other public lands? What will be the long term impacts of the administration’s efforts to protect resources on a landscape scale and tell the history of all Americans? What about the direction of the 2016 Centennial? And most importantly, what will be the emphasis of the next administration?

Read More »