What They’re Saying Category

USA Today Provides 10 New Reasons to Visit National Parks

CLICK HERE to read Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns’ list of ten new jewels on their must-see list of national parks, and their perspectives on sustaining the accomplishments of the Antiquities Act.  The list includes several sites important to American history.  Among them, the state of Delaware gets its first National Monument, meaning that all 50 states now have a unit within the National Park System.

“Even Dreams Have A Shelf Life”

Join Shelton Johnson and others who hope to inspire urban youth to have an interest in the national parks and experiencing the outdoors, by contributing to the production of a feature-length documentary about the first African-American expedition to tackle North America’s highest peak at Denali National Park. Please click the link at the end of this video to contribute now.

Here’s One “Baaad” Video

Ten Years Hence – A Vision of the National Parks




The above discussion occurred at Grand Thoughts at the Grand Canyon, a national conference held in October, 2012. Participating were John Poimiroo, CEO of the National Parks Promotion Council; Gail Adams, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Diane Shober, Director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism and Leigh von der Esche, Director of the Utah Division of Tourism.

Connecting With The Primordial

A new video from Finley-Holiday sheds light on experiencing the night sky in our national parks.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/23GOE7xjM4E[/youtube]

Our True Nature! – Finding A Zest For Life in the National Parks

Audrey & Frank Denali

Audrey and Frank Peterman at Denali NP

Author Audrey Peterman has just released her second book on the national park experience.  She calls “Our True Nature!,” “a layperson’s guide to the NPS through my eyes and footsteps.”

Besides the grand national parks, it includesplaces such as Paul Revere’s house; the Liberty BellJohn Brown’s Fort; the Ocmulgee mounds and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. With infectious exuberance, Audrey describes where these parks are, how to get there, where to stay, what to do, and even the best time of year to visit.  She says, “it provides the invitation and the information that has been so long needed.”  That the book is written by a woman of color, who has been to all the places described, makes it particularly unique.  She explains, ”I made a conscious effort not to use the words “fight” or “struggle” anywhere in the book, so much so that my friend who edited it describes it as “an eye-opening invitation to the parks conveyed in Audrey’s inimitable loving spirit.”

Autographed, soft-cover, pre-release copies of Our True Nature! are on sale through Friday, Sept. 28 for $14.95 (with shipping and handling included).  Ebook versions are also available for $9.95, including an accompanying Audio Book.  To purchase Our True Nature! – Finding a Zest for Life in the National Park System, CLICK HERE or send check/money order to: Earthwise Productions, Inc.,11200 NW 20th Court,Plantation, FL 33323.

Jogging in Forest Twice as Good as Gym for Mental Health

Jogging in a forest is twice as beneficial to one’s mental health as a workout in  a gym, according to researchers at Glasgow University.

A report in the London Telegraph stated that, “Researchers found that anything from a stroll in the park to a run through woodland can have a positive effect on people suffering from depression and anxiety.  The study also showed that the positive effect on people’s mental health was 50 percent more than they might expect from going to the gym.”

Professor Richard Mitchell studied some 2,000 physically active people in the 2008 Scottish Health Survey and was “surprised” to find “around a 50 percent improvement in people’s mental health if they were physically active in the natural environment, compared to those who weren’t,” the Telegraph reported.  The professor said, “Being in areas that have lots of trees and grassy areas help to calm us down and obviously a forest has this.”

He continued, “I wasn’t surprised by the findings that exercise in natural environments is good for your mental health, but I was surprised by just how much better it is for your mental health to exercise in a green place like a forest, than in other places like a gym.  The message to doctors, planners and policy makers is that these places need protecting and promoting.”

Patriotism Is Visiting National Parks

Patriot Amy Kersey of Park City hikes Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyons of Zion National Park

San Francisco Chronicle Travel Editor Spud Hilton suggests true patriots visit national parks.  CLICK HERE to read his Independence Day report.

 

 

CNN Travel Reveals Hidden Treasures

In advance of National Park Week (Apr. 21 – 29), CNN Travel’s Katia Hetter describes hidden treasures to be found in the national parks, including a place inhabited for 5,000 years in North America, the longest cave in the world and the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier islands in the world.   CLICK HERE to read her article.