Your great interest in our national parks has made National Parks Traveler the top-ranked, editorially independent site on the Internet for dedicated daily coverage of the parks. Now we want to give you a more active voice in that coverage, and reward you for your ongoing support of the Traveler.
Over the years we've offered you armchair travelogues on navigating Glacier Bay National Park by 'mothership,' hard news items on congressional oversight of the parks and search-and-rescue missions, features on how to enjoy the parks with your kids, and even stories that question how the parks are being managed.
As more and more readers like you shift your media preferences away from books, magazines, and newspapers and seek online sources with targeted content that addresses your interests, answers your questions, and engages you, we want to expand and enhance our coverage to meet your needs and desires. And to accomplish that mission, we want you to take a more active role by becoming a member of the Traveler community.
Our goal?
To build a stronger, better informed community for the parks through more extensive and insightful coverage into this wondrous system that protects and preserves America's landscapes, history, and cultures.
If you look forward each day to seeing what the Traveler is reporting, if you value independent, nonpartisan journalism, believe there's a need for more expansive coverage of the national parks, coverage that goes far beyond aggregation and sound bites, then we need and want your support as a member.
We want you regardless of whether you agree with the positions we take, for we fervently believe that only through the constructive discussion of divergent and diverse views can we all come to see things from another perspective.
We need your help so we can continue bringing you original stories and photographs from around the National Park System, such as Rebecca Latson's articles from Lake Clark and Katmai national parks. Rebecca Latson photo.
All the content that you've come to enjoy will continue to be free for all. But join our membership ranks for $9.95 a year -- 19 cents a week! -- and you'll have access to forums to post, and answer, questions pertaining to the parks in general, lodging, dining, photography, wildlife and more. We'll seek your support in 'crowd-sourcing' guides via National Parks Travelers' Parkipedia to the national parks, guides that with your input will become the most authoritative available.
And while that $9.95 is not tax deductible, and we can't send you a snazzy Traveler ball cap or T-shirt, that $9.95 membership fee will pay for itself immediately through savings on lodgings, book purchases, trips and more.
To thank you for your support, several businesses and organizations are working with us to provide members-only discounts on lodging, books, and travel in the parks.
Help us grow the national parks community. Become an active voice and contributor to a rich resource for exploring, and enjoying, the national parks.
To learn more about the benefits waiting for you, visit this page.
Comments
I have a lot of historic issues with PayPal, but will find a way to get the $$$ in for what I think is a very worthwhile cause.
Signed up! Happy to support you.
Anne & David
Kurt...like how you highlight navigating Glacier Bay in your article! Cherry
So, Kurt, let me ask my stupid questions:
When would all the new features start?
Could we still comment on articles for free?
Would we lose access to current features that we now see for free?
Steve,
It sounds like I've failed as a communicator! All the features already are there, up and running, in the member area.
Once you sign up, you'll see a "Member Area" button on the right side of the green menu bar at the top. Only members see it. When you click it, you essentially pass into an out-of-sight corner of the Traveler where the forums now exist, a page with the active discounts we've arranged (savings from ARAMARK Parks and Destinations lodging, cabin rentals, river trips, books and more), as well as the "Parkipedia" pages to park guides that have been started, but which need a lot of help from members.
Members only will be eligible for our giveaways -- the first will be a Sierra Designs Super Stratus Jacket, which is new this fall! That's an 800-fill down jacket, great for heading into the backcountry or through Central Park. Once you're a member, you're automatically entered in each giveaway.
We could have allowed only members to comment on stories, and tempting as that was, at this point we've decided to let everyone who has a general account on the Traveler to continue to comment. And all daily editorial content that we post remains open to all eyes.
We envision other "members-only" features, such as specials on eBooks we're working on.
The bottom-line, I guess, is that we really need those who enjoy coming to the Traveler on a regular basis to see what's going on in the park system to help move the site to its next level. As a volunteer-driven information source we've taken it about as far as we can on existing resources.
$10 a year, we believe, is a tremendous value for what we're offering. One night booked in a cabin outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park or in a B&B along the Blue Ridge Parkway (we have a current special where you stay two nights, the third is free), earns that $10 back, and then some.
And, naturally, the more readers who become members, the more specials we can attract for you!
So come on in, kick the tires, smell the fresh paint, and see which park guide you'd like to help build.
Holiday River trip down the Green River through Dinosaur? YES! Thank you, Kurt. This is gonna be fun.
Kurt, I did not click on the green button. So I just stopped and commented. That was it.