Engaging with the Environment Featured Places

Parks

Since 1916, the American people have entrusted the National Park Service with the care of their national parks. With the help of volunteers and park partners, we safeguard these more than 400 places and share their stories with more than 275 million visitors every year. Find a few of those stories here and then Find a Park to find more of all Americans' stories.

Climate Change: Today's rapid climate change challenges national parks in ways we've never seen before. Glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate, increasingly destructive storms threaten cultural resources and park facilities, habitat is disrupted—the list goes on. Discover how climate change is affecting our nation's treasures, what the National Park Service is doing about it, and how you can help.

Catoctin Mountain Park: This 5,810-acre Blue Ridge hardwood forest park has refreshing streams and scenic vistas, offering a rare haven in a rapidly developing area of the country. However, the park hasn't always looked this way. In the 18th and 19th centuries the land was extensively logged to support local agriculture practices and to produce charcoal for the nearby iron works furnace. In 1933 the land was set aside as the Catoctin Recreation Demonstration Area with its purpose being to rehabilitate "sub-marginal" farmland.

National Monuments: Each National Monument established under the Antiquities Act of 1906 tells a story of the nation's past and future. From vast scenic vistas to the material remains of past peoples, the National Monuments preserve places and collections that make America unique.

Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park: Species that have survived for millennia face unabated threats from a host of invaders introduced by humans over the past 200 years. Feral pigs, goats, and mouflon sheep;invasive plants;feral cats and rats, mongoose, ants, wasps, and mosquitoes, these invaders are all taking a tremendous toll on native plants and animals.

Other Places

The National Park Service cares for America's more than 400 national parks…and works in almost every one of her 3,141 counties. We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close to home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun. Find a few selected important places outside the parks here and explore the links for more. Then explore what you can do to share your own stories and the places that matter to you.

The Bureau of Reclamation Historic Dams, Irrigation Projects, and Powerplants: Managing Water in the West: Bureau of Reclamation projects have a sweeping impact on irrigation, hydroelectric power, navigation, flood control, and municipal and industrial water supplies. The dams and water projects embody a complex and rich history that goes well beyond the concrete and earth used to build these engineering marvels. As an arid area of the nation, the West relies heavily on these dams and water control projects that tamed the rivers to channel the life giving water essential for people to settle and thrive in the West.

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area: In addition to vast natural heritage, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area also has significant agricultural heritage.Places of interest include, but are not limited to Blue Ridge Parkway, two National Forests, ten State Parks, and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Erie Canalway National Heritage Area: This canal system is the oldest continuously operating canal in the nation.Built between 1817 and 1825, the Erie Canal was the most successful and influential public works project in North America.The canal's 363 miles helped to make New York City a successful international port.

Cache La Poudre River Corridor: This area has contributed to Western water law and the evolution of complex water delivery systems.Visitors can see the many head gates, flumes, water measurement devices, and intricate network of ditches along the Cache la Poudre River, all created to modify the river's flow in an attempt to meet the water need of urban development.