The Very Best Foreign National Parks

by Kraig Becker on

The Coalition of National Park Services Retirees (yeah, I didn’t know they existed either) put out a press release yesterday listing the organizations favorite national parks from around the globe. The list was compiled by the more than 700 members of the CNPSR, who voted on their favorite places to visit while traveling abroad. Each of those members is a former employee of the U.S. National Park Service, and the members have an average of nearly 30 years of experience each, giving them a broad understanding of what makes a great park. Amongst their numbers are former rangers, park directors and deputy directors, regional directors and more.

The ten top parks according to the CNPSR is as follows:

1. TONGARIRO N. P., New Zealand
2. KAKADU N. P., Northern Territory, Australia
3. SNOWDONIA N. P., Wales, Great Britain
4. KRUGER N. P., South Africa
5. TIKAL N. P., Guatemala
6. IGUAZU N. P., Argentina
7. SAGARMANTHA N. P., Nepal
8. MADAIN SALEY NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK, Saudi Arabia
9. PLITVICE LAKES N.P., Croatia
10. HORTOBAGY N.P., Hungary
The actual story goes into more detail as to which each of the parks was selected, and what makes them stand out in the crowd. For instance, Tongarirro in New Zealand is a World Heritage Site with three volcanos, one of which is active. The park also lets visitors get up close to the Maori culture, with many members of the tribe still living within the park itself. By contrast, Kruger National Park in South Africa, is listed as one of the best places on the planet to view wildlife, with hundreds of different species on display.

Overall, a great list, and some good suggestions on places you can visit while traveling abroad. It’s nice to see some of the lesser known parks make the list, like Plitvice Lakes in Croatia. These kinds of lists sure don’t help the personal life list however, as every time they are released, I add two or three new things to my agenda.

Three More Honorees for Women’s History Month

by Jamie Rhein on

Since this is the last day of Women’s History Month, here are a few more historic homes of women to add to your places to travel to list. The National Park Service features three properties that are on the National Register of Historic Places. The website is also filled with other women’s history information.

Marjorie Kinnan’s House and Farmyard is one of them. It’s located in Cross Creek, Florida and is part of the Florida State Park system. Here, Kinnan penned her best seller, The Yearling.

At the Nathan C. Aldrich House and Resthaven Chapel in Mendon, Massachusetts, Catherine Regina Seabury, founder of the Women’s Mutual Improvement Society opened a retreat center for female factory workers of Boston in 1889. She also lived here where worked to enhance the lives of women.

Between 1919 and 1928, Carrie Chapman Catt lived in this house in Briarcliff Manor, New York where she, along with Susan B. Anthony, fought to give women the right to vote.

Vanity Fair on the National Parks

by Erik Olsen on

It has taken me FOREVER to get to this post. I read the article a while back and have been meaning to write about it ever since. First a personal blurb: my first real job in the big, bad, plastic world (after working as a ski photographer in Tahoe and a junior rafting guide in Colorado) was with the Department of the Interior in Washington DC. Don’t ask me how I ended up there. It a rather long, convoluted tale filled with romantic notions of helping the world and crushed ideals about how one can do this inside a government agency. No matter. The point of al this is that within the Interior Department lies what is probably the best agency in the federal government: The National Park Service. The NPS takes care of all of our nations great parks, from Yosemite to the Smokies, as well as gobfulls of various monuments, recreation areas, etc. In general, they do a fine job. If you’ve ever spent time in a National Park, you know that the rangers are a dedicated bunch and the care given to interpretation and preservation is, in general, worthy of high praise. But there are problems, and the park service has typically had some difficulties with funding and upkeep, especially <slight reveal of political slant> during Republican administrations </slight reveal of political slant>.

One of the big debates this time around is whether to allow certain motorized vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles into the parks. traditionally, most parks have been off-limits to these folks. For good reason, IMHO. They are noisy, pollution causing and, if I may throw in yet another potentially incendiary over-generalization, demographically unpleasing. I’ll not expand on that remark, but suffice it to say the parks are probably better off without motorized vehicles roaming around them.

According to this nicely done article from Vanity Fair a while back, it seems lots of people agree with me. Sadly, among them is NOT the head of the Park Service, Paul Hoffman. The article pays out the issues involved and some of the passionate characters who are fighting behind he scenes to keep the parks motor-free. Check it out and weigh in, should you feel compelled.

Photo of the Day (8/29/2006)

by Erik Olsen on

Ah, if there is a more classic photo of the lovely West than the sandstone bridges of Utah, I don’t know what it is Well, OK, the Grand canyon, Monument Valley…and so on. But you get the point. This shot by JasonBechtel does justice to the majestic natural beauty of the West.

Now, I have to make a confession that I’ve never actually been to this part of Utah, the Natural Bridges National Monument, but someday I shall, be sure of that. In the meantime, I have to depend on the talented folks who post (as any of y’all can do) to our Gadling Flickr site.