We are inching towards our goal. Your donations can help put us over the top.

We often tell you that we put your donations right to work at National Parks Traveler, and the new look to the homepage is one testament to that pledge.

That look, an idea for many months, was made possible by all who contributed earlier this fall and were rewarded then with a Traveler water bottle. Thanks to you all! (If there's enough interest, we'll offer another bottle, with another park setting on it. Arches? Yellowstone? Olympic? Mount Rainier?)

When I started the Traveler back in 2005, the idea was to leverage it to generate story ideas I could pitch to magazines. Well, we know what happened to that industry. But readership in the Traveler continued to grow as readers sought out information on national parks and protected areas. Today our content reaches more than 3 million readers and listeners a year, and that audience is growing.

Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor-in-chief

The more people we reach, the more support and oversight will be generated for the National Park System. That's why we ask you for financial donations several times a year.

Our current fundraising campaign is part of the nationwide NewsMatch campaign for nonprofit news organizations. Through this campaign, we have an opportunity to expand and improve coverage of the National Park System that you love. 

Every dollar up to $11,500 that we can raise through December 31 will be generously matched by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, Facebook Journalism Project, Inasmuch Foundation, the Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Natasha and Dirk Ziff, Present Progressive Fund at Schwab Charitable, and The S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

While this match is a catalyst that will help inspire donations, it's only a fraction of what we need to operate on an annual basis. How will we put your donations to work?

• Put writers and photographers on the ground in parks, whether it's to report on the impacts of wildfires and sea-level rise or to present to you the wonders of Saguaro National Park or explain the risks hikers and climbers take at Mount Rainier National Park.
• Bring new voices to the Traveler, voices of writers who share your passion for the parks and bring different perspectives. We've started that with dispatches from Barbara Jensen and work from Jonathan Horwitz.
• Take our podcasts into the parks.
• Generate more coverage from parks that don't have staff to regularly promote their work and the issues they face.

In the weeks and months ahead, in addition to our daily coverage of the park system, we'll be bringing you features from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Tonto National Monument and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, and Grand Canyon National Park, along with our 2nd Annual Threatened and Endangered Parks package.

We'll also continue to monitor how funds generated by the Great American Outdoors Act are spent in the National Park System, and follow the changes to the Interior Department and National Park Service under President-elect Biden.

No other media outlet offers such regular coverage of national parks and protected areas. We believe it's vital coverage of a wondrous National Park System that belongs to you. We hope you appreciate this work and can help ensure it continues through a donation.

Thanks to all who have supported the Traveler over the years. May you all enjoy a safe and healthy Thanksgiving break.

National Parks Traveler is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization that greatly depends on its readers and listeners. We value and appreciate your support.