Essays
Get started on your national park journey by perusing our extensive archive of essays. Whether you want to be a park ranger, learn more about rangers and parks, or cultivate a wilder life, we have an essay that will help.
Parks
The Trump Administration has announced plans to dismantle the US Forest Service. Here’s why that should matter to national park supporters.
Those of us who support national parks say that we are protecting them, but I often think that they are doing just as much to protect us.
Times are hard for America's national park rangers; they've been hard for years. So what made that job worthwhile for me, even in hard times?
Rights are not won and then forever granted. Every generation will have to fight for its rights anew. That work is a gift, not a burden.
The US Secretary of the Interior recently ordered more federal lands to be opened for hunting. Here's why hunting would harm national parks.
The Trump Administration removed an exhibit about slavery from a national park site. The public outrage should inspire all of us to hope.
Wild Living
"Does anyone want to hear what I have to say?" or "Can I really make an impact?" are the wrong questions. Here are the right ones.
The Trump Administration removed an exhibit about slavery from a national park site. The public outrage should inspire all of us to hope.
Travel, novel experiences, and nature have all been shown by science to have a beneficial impact on our mental health.
The Trump Administration is trying to censor history, but they are fighting against human nature. Science explains why.
Research has shown that in a mature forest plants don't compete: they collaborate. We must learn to share like forests do.
The Trump Administration wants to eliminate hundreds of America's national historical and cultural parks. Here's why.