In the heart of our nation lies a riverway that has been federally protected for more than 50 years and stewarded by Native Americans for thousands of years before that. ItThis river carried logs piled so high they caused jams two miles long. It witnessed the first steamboats, a Minnesota firestorm, and even a briefly booming pearl button factory. The onset of the fur trade, European settlement, and urban development began to threaten these once-pristine waters. The unique habitat for aquatic life and recreational opportunities such as fishing and paddling was enough cause for people to rally for the water’s protection.

This week on America’s National Parks: the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

If you take the time to stop in West Virginia's New River Gorge, our newest national park, and listen, you may hear intertwined within the sound of birdsong, flowing water, and the wind billowing through the trees the whistle of a train. Today on America's National Parks, the legend born from the Gorge that would echo through generations to come. A man named John Henry. 

New Lava eruptions in Hawaii have people doing dangerous things, a harrowing evacuation of the records of two national parks in danger of being lost to wildfire, and our 63rd National Park. 

This week on America’s National Parks, we journey to Gates of the Arctic, Yellowstone, and Glacier for three stories of survival from the wildlife that call them home: Arctic Ground Squirrels, Bison, and Clark’s Nutcrackers.

Should the whitebark pine be listed as a threatened species? The USFWS will consider public comments received by Feb. 1, 2021. Comments may be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov by searching under docket number FWS–R6–ES–2019–0054 and clicking on the “comment now” button.

Shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, civil rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated in the carport of the home that he shared with his wife Myrlie and their three young children in Jackson, Mississippi. His death, the first murder of a nationally significant leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, heightened public awareness of civil rights issues and became a catalyst for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Today on America's National Parks, our newest National Park Service Unit, the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi.

Mountains that tower over beaches, temperate rainforests, ice fields, tidewater glaciers, and marine depths welcome the visitors that make the trek to visit this off-the-beaten-path destination. These habitats provide homes for mountain goats, moose, shorebirds, salmon, and bears, but the easiest way to get around in this national park is not by foot. Nearly 1200 miles of shoreline curve around inlets and islands. One endangered animal has thrived in this environment, swimming here to feed for the summer before returning to tropical waters near Mexico and Hawaii every winter. This week: the humpback whales of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Hiking has arguably become the most popular activity in 2020, but as more and more people take to the trails, rescues are on the rise in National Parks putting a strain on resources, In Utah, a mysterious monolith appeared sparking all kinds of theories, and just as people were rushing to be some of the first to snap a photo with it, it disappeared. The National Park Service finds itself in a 270 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit after a woman lost her life in one of the most shocking ways we’ve ever heard of in a National Park. It’s time for this month’s National Park News.

The “peace pipe,” as it’s often called by those who only know it as a symbol of the hundreds of peace treaties signed between the federal government and Native American tribes, is a valued tradition that dates back thousands of years. And today, on a 1-square-mile plot of land, that tradition continues in the modern world, ever changing yet firmly rooted in the past. Today on America’s National Parks, Minnesota’s Pipestone National Monument. 

There are about 60,000 free-roaming horses in North America, and while we call them “wild,” they more accurately fit the definition of feral, which means they are free-roaming descendants of domesticated horses. Regardless, their majesty is impressive to behold anywhere you find them. 

Domesticated horses were introduced into North America beginning with the Spanish conquest. Escaped horses then spread throughout the Great Plains. But it’s clear that centuries of domestication didn’t alter their instincts too much, as they quickly reverted to ancient behavioral patterns in the wild. On Assateague Island, horses have lived wild for over 300 years species, but managing the herd is critical to the continued protection of the seashore ecosystem. 

 Too often we look at our symbols and see them as the enduring legacy of our past, when in reality, symbols have always been mirror for us to reflect our current moments in, in order to inform our life’s direction. In the united states, the American Flag gets a lot of play, as does the Statue of Liberty, and the bald eagle. But there’s one symbol that we all know, but doesn’t always immediately come to mind as a representation of the American experience. And that’s a shame, because it’s a better representation of America than planned and designed effigies like the flag and Lady Liberty. Today on the America’s National Parks Podcast, the Liberty Bell.