Delicate frost clings to a solitary tree at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. These little details are easy to miss when visitors are busy bird watching, hiking or ice fishing. Extending from the Canadian border for 45 miles, it’s the largest wildlife refuge in the state and one of the nation’s premier birding locations. Photo by Colette Guariglia, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Only fossils remain of the dinosaurs that gave Dinosaur National Monument its name. However, some large animals continue to prowl this rugged landscape along the Colorado and Utah border. These tracks in the snow are 5 inches wide and belong to a mountain lion, just one species of the amazing wildlife that lives in the park. Photo by National Park Service.
This weekend, the annual Iditarod race kicked off in Alaska. This famous dog-sled race traverses across the rugged Alaska tundra, including on the Iditarod National Historic Trail. A 2,300-mile system of trails that first connected Alaska Native villages and opened Alaska up for America’s last great gold rush, the Iditarod Trail now plays a vital role for travel and recreation in modern-day Alaska. Photos by Kevin Keeler, Bureau of Land Management, @mypubliclands
Created on March 3, 1849, the Department of the Interior was sometimes called the “Department of Everything Else.” Today, Interior’s mission is a diverse mix of duties ranging from managing the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage to pursuing cutting-edge science to benefit the pubic and honoring trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaska Natives and affiliated island communities. Of course, we’re known best for public lands like Great Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, one of the most visited national parks in the system.
Photo by Chris Mobley (www.sharetheexperience.org).
Happy birthday, Mount Rainier National Park! Established in 1899, our 5th national park has been amazing visitors for 119 years. Home to the tallest mountain in Washington, the park is a wonderland of history, wildlife and natural beauty. Gorgeous in every season, there’s nothing quite like the park’s summer wildflower blooms. Put this park on your bucketlist! Photo by Danny Seidman (www.sharetheexperience.org).
On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park was born – making it the world’s first national park. Today, millions visit Yellowstone to discover the park’s geysers and mud pots, forests and lakes, and historic cabins and prehistoric sites – not to mention it’s stunning waterfalls. Check out 7 surprising facts about Yellowstone as we celebrate the park’s birthday: http://on.doi.gov/24zbV9d
Photo of Lower Falls courtesy of Stuart Burnett.
With dawn’s light peeking over the horizon and snow dusting the steep rock walls, this winter scene at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado reminds us of a Van Gogh painting. Every determined tree and each ripple of stone stands out, telling a story that spans geologic eras. Lesser known than other Colorado parks, the Black Canyon can be a stunning surprise to first time visitors. Photo by James Broscheid (www.sharetheexperience.org).
Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park holds the largest lava lake on Earth. When all that molten rock splashes around, the dynamic orange light can fill the crater and make the nearby steam clouds glow. It’s a jaw-dropping sight and a reminder of the powerful forces of nature that continue to shape our planet. Photo by Janice Wei, National Park Service volunteer.
Sitting at the foothills of the Alaska Range, Denali National Park is as wild and wonderful as it was when hunter and naturalist Charles Sheldon first visited the area more than a century ago. It was Sheldon’s drive and determination to protect this American treasure that led to the creation of Denali National Park and Preserve on February 26, 1917. Check out 9 interesting facts about this park: https://on.doi.gov/2EXi8Uz
Photo by Kent Miller, National Park Service.
Located near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, Petrified Forest National Park is part of an amazing geological region. Here you can see the colorful Painted Desert badlands next to mesas, buttes and hoodoos that have been sculpted by wind, rain and time. It’s a sight that will leave you in awe. Photo by JT Dudrow (www.sharetheexperience.org).
Sig Nordal 