Mesa Verde National Park

Ann Axtell Morris

Earl Morris

Florence Hawley Ellis

Jean McWhirt Pinkley

Jesse Nusbaum

Louis Caywood

Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Yelm Kingman

Willa Cather

Recipients of the 2014 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards

In 2021, the National Park Service Aviation Program awarded the Excellence in Mentorship Aviation Award, the Tom Clausing Aviation All Risk (Hazard) Program Award, Aviator of the Year Award, and the Wright Brothers Aviation Safety Award.

View the recipients of the 2023 National Park Service Excellence in Interpretation Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees.

Colorado has the largest elk population in the world. A recent project took a look at what we know and don’t know about elk and mule deer in Mesa Verde National Park. The project findings will help guide planning, stewardship, and management actions in the park for these two species.

Few employees have left as visible a mark on National Park Service (NPS) exhibits as John A. Segeren. His work has been enjoyed by generations of park visitors who never knew his name but appreciated his intricate wood carvings and playful animal figures displayed in parks throughout the system. A master woodcarver described by former President Lyndon B. Johnson as "a legacy to this country," Segeren carved out his own place in NPS history.

They say that coloring provides stress relief for adults as well as children. For artists at the National Park Service (NPS) Western Museum Laboratory in the 1930s, however, it wasn't easy to hand-color glass lanterns slides depicting the landscapes, people, plants, and animals of places they had never seen. Quality and accuracy were essential because the slides were used by rangers to illustrate lectures and to encourage people to visit national parks.

Political cartoons have long been a way for artists and their editors to bring attention to important social issues or political corruption and to support meaningful causes. The NPS History Collection includes drawings by some of the most influential cartoonists from the 1920s to the 1950s. Their support publicized the National Park Service (NPS) while helping build political support to protect park resources from commercial interests.

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.