Bandelier National Monument

Frank "Boss" Pinkley

Louis Caywood

Every time I venture on a new trail, I scan the mountains, looking for burn scars, trying to gauge the extent of the Las Conchas (2011) and Thompson Ridge (2013) fires. It’s one thing to study a color-coded map that shows severity and extent of the burns, it’s another to stand on a hillside among acres and acres of downed trees, then see similar damage miles away caused by the same fire.

Mantén Viva la Llama' --'Keep the Flame Alive!’ describes the theme of the Spanish Language Training Exchange (TREX) held near Santa Fe, New Mexico in October of 2019. The two week TREX program brings diverse fire practitioners from many Spanish speaking countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Spain, together to build skills in prescribed fire, fire management, and fire ecology.

Being a park ranger comes naturally for Tom Betts – you could even say it's in his blood. As the son of a park ranger, he literally and figuratively grew up honing his outdoor skills in national parks. Currently the chief ranger at Bandelier National Monument, Betts has worked at eight additional national parks during his 32-year National Park Service career.

Each National Park Service (NPS) employee has a unique story. We can't tell them all, but sometimes there's a personal account—like that of Sallie Pierce Brewer Van Valkenburg Harris—that speaks to common experiences. Although her NPS connections ran from 1933 to 1971, many of her joys, challenges, and frustrations can still be recognized in the NPS today. Sallie's story resonates regardless of era, gender, or position. How will it speak to you?

In the 1920s and 1930s the National Park Service (NPS) began to focus on education as a key part of its mission. New exhibits were being created in NPS museums throughout the country. Many Native Americans, like Legoria Tafoya of Santa Clara Pueblo, were hired to demonstrate their traditional cultural practices or to make examples of pottery, paintings, clothing, tools, or other objects for park exhibits.

A lot of articles have been written about the history of the National Park Service (NPS) arrowhead emblem. Many recycle the same content and outdated information that has largely come from the NPS itself. Challenging the traditional story has revealed new sources of information—and two previously overlooked arrowhead designs—that rewrite the arrowhead origin story.

Between 1938 and 1941 the National Park Service (NPS) Western Museum Laboratories (WML) created many iconic posters. Often described as “the WPA park posters,” they should be called “the WML posters.” Research reveals more designs than previously thought (including several previously unknown ones), reevaluates what is known about the artists, and argues that modern reproductions have made the designs more significant to NPS graphic identity today than they were in the past.

The National Park Service (NPS) was only 26 years old when the United States entered World War II. The young bureau faced very real threats to its mission, with increasing pressure to contribute its natural and cultural resources to the war effort even as its budget and staff were slashed. Under the leadership of Director Newton B. Drury, the NPS was able to do its part for the war while maintaining its public trust responsibilities to the American people.