Free park admission this Saturday, September 25

In celebration of National Public Lands Day, admission fees will be waived at all national parks. Parks are looking forward to an influx of folks coming to visit the national jewels. But there's more to NPLD than just a free visit: Last year 150,000 volunteers turned out at national parks and other public lands, churning out an impressive effort that resulted in new trails and bridges, planted trees, the removal of invasive species, and a host of other services to aid our public lands.

Want to get involved? There's still time to find a site near you and volunteer. Check out the National Public Lands Day web site at http://www.publiclandsday.org/.

photo: Zion National Park, R & T DeMaris

National Park Service handbooks available free online

The online library of almost 4,000 books, reports and articles developed by the National Park Service (NPS) keeps growing. Historian Harry Butowsky expands the collection every week. Recently, he added the popular NPS handbooks. First published in the 1950s by the NPS Harpers Ferry Center, they provide a wealth of comprehensive information drawn from the latest scientific and historical research available at the time of publication. Photographs, maps, and original art complement the texts. The contents of many of these handbooks are available online at http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/handbooks/index.htm.
To access the entire History E-Library, go to http://www.nps.gov/history/history/hisnps.