Recreation is alive and well on the Cherokee National Forest. Unlike Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area where visits have dropped sharply since 2010, visitation to the Cherokee National Forest has remained steady in recent years and is expected to finish strong this summer despite the slow economy and steep gas prices.
— KnoxNews.com
Care for a Coke with that tree? In the absence of revenue and the political will to keep all of California’s 278 state parks open, 70 are scheduled to close. One partial solution, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation, is to allow some corporate logos in the parks as well as limited private management agreements.
— Los Angeles Times
TOMALES BAY STATE PARK – Private companies are offering money and services to help avert cutbacks and closures for dozens of California state parks, posing a conundrum for officials desperate for funds but facing criticism about being beholden to commercial interests.
— The Wall Street Journal
On Aug. 26-28, anyone who camps two nights in any of 10 selected state park campgrounds will receive a coupon for a free night of camping on their next visit to any Missouri state park campground.
— Hannibal Courier-Post
The Nez Perce National Historic Park is not your father’s traditional National Park site. The park consists of 38 sites located in four states— Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The Nez Perce Tribe, along with their Tribal partners, work to preserve these sites themselves, which hold ten thousand years of Nez Perce culture and history.
— Indian Country Today