Our National Parks

Series produced by Vermont Public

Series image

VPR’s “Our National Parks” series explores issues facing the national parks in their next century and how some of these problems are being addressed.

This summer the National Parks Service turns 100. VPR’s “Our National Parks” series explores issues facing the national parks in their next century and how some of these problems are being addressed. "Our National Parks” is hosted by Robert Manning, Steven Rubenstein Professor of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont.
Find out more at http://digital.vpr.net/term/our-national-parks


12 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Our National Parks: New Models
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: The Cape Cod National Seashore represents a new type of partnership between the National Park Service and communities to preserve areas of land across the country., Credit: NPS
These parks are all large areas of public land managed by the National Park Service. But there are few such opportunities anymore; all the land is ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 02:46
  • Purchases: 1
Out National Parks: A Call To Stewardship
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: As sea levels rise, we may have to begin deciding which monuments and parks to save, and which to document and let go., Credit: NPS
Birthdays are a time to celebrate, but an opportunity to look forward as well. There are many challenges the national parks must face in the 21st ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 02:36
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: Indigenous Voices
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Parks such as Washita Battlefield National Historic Site and Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site have been established and interpreted to tell the difficult stories of atrocities against indigenous people. , Credit: NPS Archives
Though the national parks have famously been called “America’s best idea”, this sentiment is not universally accepted. Native Americans were dispos...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 02:39
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: Beyond Boundaries
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Bison along Rose Creek in Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park. Often the boundaries of parks are defined by politics more than ecological realities., Credit: Neal Herbert / NPS
Visitors to our national parks may notice that the boundaries of many parks are marked by straight lines. These lines are political boundaries that...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 02:50
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: Preserving Wilderness
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Alaska's Gates of the Artic Wilderness encompasses more than 7 million acres — more than three times the size of Yellowstone National Park., Credit: Sean Tevebaugh / NPS
The 1964 Wilderness Act was a milestone in American environmental history. After hundreds of years of clearing away the wilderness, the official po...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 02:54
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: Turning Admiration Into Action
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: National park boundaries that don’t comport with ecological realities make it challenging to protect animals that range outside the parks. It's just one of the challenges facing the National Park Service., Credit: Tim Rains / NPS
The National Park Service finds itself in a seemingly paradoxical circumstance: widely admired, but increasingly uneasy about its ability to carry ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 10, 2016
  • Length: 02:27
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: For The Benefit Of All
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: The Deep Ravine Trail at Little Big Horn National Monument in Montana., Credit: Brandon Blackburn / NPS
National parks have famously been called “America’s best idea." This expression is commonly interpreted as meaning preservation of America’s iconic...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 10, 2016
  • Length: 02:38
  • Purchases: 1
Our National Parks: America's Classroom
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: ncreasingly, Distance learning centers like this one at the Grand Canyon National Park are giving students around the country a window into the national parks., Credit: Mike Buchheit / Grand Canyon Association
American education is embracing "high-impact” practices such as engagement with real places and problems, experiential and service learning, intera...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and Radio Newark


  • Added: Jun 10, 2016
  • Length: 02:45
  • Purchases: 2
Our National Parks: The Balance Between Building Constituency And Preservation
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Piece image
The numbers for 2015 are in and they’re impressive; there were 305 million visits to the national parks last year. And while it’s wonderful that so...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and Radio Newark


  • Added: Jun 10, 2016
  • Length: 02:32
  • Purchases: 2
Our National Parks: Ways To Experience The Parks
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Rocky Ocean Drive on the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park, Maine. The Park Loop Road allows visitors to experience Acadia by car. , Credit: Kristi Rugg / National Park Service
I’m often asked, “What’s your favorite national park?” It’s a question that gets me excited, thinking about all the parks I’ve been fortunate to vi...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and Radio Newark


  • Added: Apr 19, 2016
  • Length: 02:32
  • Purchases: 2
Our National Parks: The Idea
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Six million-acre Gates of the Arctic National Park was established in 1980. , Credit: Ben Minteer
There were national parks even before there was a National Park Service. Yellowstone National Park was the first in 1872. More big western parks fo...

Bought by Radio Newark and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 19, 2016
  • Length: 02:51
  • Purchases: 2
Our National Parks: The Best View
From: Vermont Public
Series: Our National Parks
Caption: Denali Star Trails as seen from Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce, Utah. Increasingly, the sky above national parks is considered as much a resource to protect as the land below., Credit: Jacob W. Frank | The National Park Service
It’s an understatement to say that the views in the national parks are striking. Take Bryce Canyon National Park, for instance, with its legions of...

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KUFM - Montana Public Radio, Radio Newark, Spokane Public Radio, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and more


  • Added: Apr 19, 2016
  • Length: 02:37
  • Purchases: 6

Playlists That Feature This Series: