Death Valley National Park

Abigail Arcan

Albert Mussey Johnson

Alma Overholt

Bessie Penniman Johnson

Christian B. Zabriskie

Cora Vernon Lee

Death Valley Scotty

Dr. Margaret Long

Recipients of the 2002 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards

Recipients of the 2014 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards

Many visitors to national parks today collect passport stamps, magnets, or other items to recall their trip and to show others where they’ve been. In the 1920s and 1930s the “must have” souvenirs weren’t created to be collected. National Park Service (NPS) windshield stickers served a practical administrative purpose; they were evidence that the automobile license fee drivers paid at some parks had been paid. Even so, Americans embraced their colorful, artistic designs.

In the 1930s the National Park Service (NPS) fire suppression policy received a boost from Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) funding. CCC enrollees built roads, fire breaks, fire trails, lookouts, and other infrastructure in national parks across the country. At the same time, another significant effort was underway to improve how quickly forest fires could be detected and suppressed. The tool used to accomplish this was a camera—a very special camera.

Photographer Ansel Adams is renowned for his black-and-white images of western American landscapes. His name conjures iconic images of national parks, particularly his beloved Yosemite. Although his 1941 mural project for the US Department of the Interior (DOI) is better known, Adams also worked with the National Park Service (NPS) to create a series of six posters. These affordable versions of Adams’ art provided priceless publicity for national parks.

The park ranger uniform is known the world over. Perhaps the most iconic part of the uniform is the broad-brimmed flat hat. Over the last century, however, many different kinds of hats have been worn by rangers depending on their gender, where they work, the season of the year, and the jobs they do. While a pith helmet may bring up images of Colonial Britain, World War II soldiers, explorers, or people on safaris, for a while it was also be worn by some park rangers.

When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change.

This year, for the first time, the NPS hired a shared paleontologist to support multiple parks in the same region. Dr. Aubrey Bonde was selected as the Southern Network Paleontologist to support five parks throughout Southern Nevada and California.