Mark your calendar for April 21-29 to celebrate National Park Week. This presidentially declared week has been allotted for Americans to celebrate the diversity, beauty and history within our national park system. The National Park Service (NPS) oversees 397 national parks and more than 84 million acres of beautiful scenery, historic landmarks and areas for recreational activities.
Many parks around the country are celebrating National Park Week with special programs and events, and all national parks are offering fee-free admission during the week. For example, New York’s Saratoga National Park is hosting a Recycled Art Show, Electronics Recycling Day, Junior Ranger Day with Guided Ecology Walk and a special exhibit on climate change. Homestead National Monument in Nebraska will be displaying the original 1862 Homestead Act document from April 25 through May 28. The document was an influential piece of history signed by President Abraham Lincoln and is considered one of the 100 most important documents in the National Archives. On April 21 volunteers are needed at Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee to lend a hand with removing invasive exotic plants and cleaning up the site.
For more information about National Park Week, go to www.nps.gov/npweek.
