Greg Tanner originally hailed from Northern California but eventually found himself stuck in Salt Lake City, Utah. It turned out alright, however, since he is still close to an amazing array of parks, peaks, deserts and wilderness areas. Greg studied biology and geology in college but disappointed his family when he switched paths to a career in the media arts. A circuitous path its been, too, but for the last several years he has worked for Park City Magazine, Sun Valley Magazine, Aspen Sojourner, Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine and Colorado Summit Magazine. He is a devoted hiker and enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, kite-boarding and skiing. Hammocks and deck chairs too...especially when they have a view and easy access to a cold one. Greg has been known to hug trees and dance naked, but so far NationalParksTraveler has refused to publish these photographs. He's been to many of the nation's parks and monuments, and visited natural habitats in several other parts of the world. His favorite spot, however, is the front porch of his cabin - situated at 9200 feet elevation in the Uinta mountains.

I retired in January 2008 following working more than 32 years as a National Park Ranger. I started my career as a seasonal interpreter conducting living history programs. Once a permanent employee, I worked as a commissioned law enforcement ranger, naturalist, wildland firefighter, resource manager, search and rescue manager, supervisor, and manager. My last position was as the Ridge District Ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

My interest in supporting and promoting national parks remains a focus even in retirement. One example of these efforts is my volunteer work as an environmental educator at Boxerwood Gardens Nature Center. The program is oriented toward the State of Virginia's standards of learning. My personal objective is to get students interested in the outdoors and eventually national parks.

I have also just completed writing a book based on my experiences working in national parks. I have also included messages about very real threats to our parks and what citizens can do to assist those stewards who have the responsibility to protect our treasures found in national parks. The book is titled "A Park Ranger's Life: True Stories from Thirty Two Years Protecting Our National Parks." It should be available by early November. For more information check my blog at www.aparkrangerslife.blogspot.com.

Donna Childress has been playing outside for most of her life. Her parents first took her to Shenandoah National Park to see the peaks and smell the rhododendrons at age 5. Since then, she has spent many happy hours in various parks hiking, running, taking pictures, and simply enjoying the peace and clarity that being surrounded by nature brings.

When Donna is inside, she runs the business she founded in 2001, Childress Communications. A writer and online strategist, she works on projects that help nonprofits and government agencies spark positive change for people and the planet. She also covers planet-friendly events and issues for the city blog We Love DC.

Montana Native. Wildland Firefighter. Mountaineer. Backpacker. Ultralighter. Committed to a Labrador.

Full-time photographer with a broad range of work in travel, nature, adventure, and large format photography.

First (and only ?) to have photographed each of the 58 US National Parks in large format.

Hi! I'm an environmental scientist in southern CA. My work is mostly associated with freshwater aquatic life - yes, there are still some significant freshwater habitats in so CA, but not much. I have done some extensive back country hiking in and around Grand Canyon but have been spending most of my hiking time in recent years at the Mojave Preserve. I'm new to the group and welcome any feedback or contact. I look forward to hearing from you and contributing where I can.

Hullo park & preserve visitors.
I was just enjoying Chokoloskee & Everglades City in far, far South Florida. (I Know, I know - summer!)
So I would like to mention that I also send folks to other Florida national park sites in my book Scenic Driving Florida.

One such gem is in the far northeast roof of the state, straddling both sides of the long & historic St. Johns River. This is the Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve.

I return to the Everglades/ Big Cypress, to tell, for children ages 8 & up, the picture book biography story of Seminole Leader Betty Mae Jumper, titled She Sang Promise, with an afterword directly written to children by Moses Jumper, Jr. It is out March 2010 from National Geographic.

Like many travelers, my husband & I are always drawn to the human stories along the routes in nature that we visit.

In Florida, with the Timucuans & Calusas, the Ais that fished at what we know as Canaveral National Seashore, & the Apalachee near the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the Big Bend, that can be thinking about people who traveled in the region 10,000 years ago.

Like us, they enjoyed the shellfish, and piled the discarded oyster, clam & scallop shells up into heaps that became 1940s road fill. Some of the trash piles remain, such as Turtle Mound and also Seminole Rest in the Canaveral National Seashore on the state's east coast. Other mounds the early people created were burial sites & it is unfortunate that many of those were destroyed.

Retired from the NPS. At the time of retirement was the Service's national cave and karst program coordinator and the acting director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI). Currently serving on the Board of Directors of NCKRI. An Honorary Life Member and a Fellow of the National Speleological Society; a Fellow of the Cave Research Foundation; a former director and now honorary director of the American Cave Conservation Association and a former board member of the Karst Waters Institute.

I'm the Everglades Team Leader for Audubon of Florida. As such, I'm responsible for managing and coordinating Audubon's Everglades restoration policy and science efforts.

I currently serve on the South Florida Water Management District's (SFWMD) Water Resources Advisory Commission. Previously, Jacquie served on the SFWMD's Water Savings Incentive Program selection committee and the SFWMD's Water Conservation Summit stakeholders panel.

In 2006, I graduated from the University of Miami where I earned both a J.D. from the School of Law and a M.A. in Marine Affairs and Policy from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. I was admitted to the Florida Bar in October 2006.

I can be reached at [email protected].

Andrea Keller Helsel is Senior Director, Media Relations for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association--the nation's leading voice for the national parks.

An expert in advocacy and nonprofit communications, Andrea is accredited in public relations, and has earned a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University and a B.A. in Communications from Loyola College in Maryland.

An avid fan of our national parks (especially Acadia!), Andrea tweets at twitter.com/akellerhelsel

Tom Ribe is a long-time public land and national park advocated based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has his MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon and has worked in interpretation and fire for the National Park Service at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Yosemite, and Bandelier National Monument. He is author of Inferno by Committee, a book on the Los Alamos (Cerro Grande) Fire that was published June 2010. He is Executive Director of Caldera Action, advocating for National Park Service management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve and works on a variety of issues related to national parks and personal health. Visit his websites at www.TomRibe.com and Greathealthconnection.com.

National Park PAL (Patron, Admirer and Lover of the Parks)!! Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/kfristensky

I am the author of Lewis and Clark Road Trips: Exploring the Trail Across America, which features over 800 destinations. The eastern trail, as well as the southern trail (New Orleans and the Death of Meriwether Lewis) are included.

There are many National Park Service sites, and Native American destinations. We traveled over 8,000 miles on the trail, and it took six years to write. It was published in 2006. The destinations are on facing pages with custom maps and driving directions.

My new book, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation by James E. Starrs and myself was published in April, 2009. Professor Starrs will be the leader of the exhumation team if permission is obtained to exhume the remains of Meriwether Lewis, as the Lewis family descendants have asked. See their website, www.solvethemystery.org and the websites for the two books, www.lewisandclarkroadtrips.com and www.deathofmeriwetherlewis.com.

You may also subscribe to my monthly email newsletter, Proceeding On, for news of Lewis and Clark related matters around the country, and to an email RSS feed for my blogs.

Preston tries to work a national park visit into every trip he makes. His friends joke that if you put "national" on an ice cream stand, he'd take a picture and ask for a brochure.

The two of us have traveled the national parks for nearly forty years, many of which were in a series of four VW campers including a 1967, a 1971, a 1978, and a 1987. We devoted five summers to visiting and staying in as many national park lodges as possible. Each trip comprised 10,000 to 12,000 miles of driving and stays in 30 to 40 different lodges. We have stayed in each of the nine Yellowstone lodges, each of the four Olympic NP lodges, all four of the Death Valley NP lodges, all the Glacier National Park lodges, and all the lodges in Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We have taken the boat to Rock Harbor Lodge in Isle Royale NP and the motorboats to Kettle Falls Hotel in Voyageurs National Park and Ross Lake Resort in North Cascades National Park Complex. Our book, "The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges" was first published by the Globe Pequot Press in 1997 and is now in its sixth edition. We have resided in Valdosta, Georgia, since 1975.

We have authored travel articles for numerous magazines and newspapers including the Miami Herald, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Orlando Sentinel, Minneapolis Tribune, Milwaukee Journal, Oklahoman, and the San Diego Union. We were twice guests on NBC's Today, once from Yellowstone and again from the Grand Canyon. David is a retired professor of finance, who has authored two dozen books about personal finance and investing. His latest finance books, "The American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms" and "Wall Street Words" are published by Houghton Mifflin. Kay was a teacher and administrator in several elementary schools.

Not much to tell about myself in this venue, other than I am getting ready to start enjoying our National Parks in my coming retirement!

A career NPS employee, I recently left my position as Chief Ranger at Kenai Fjords NP in southcentral Alaska for a new assignment in the wilds of Washington D.C.

Born in California, lived there all my life (third generation). Moved to Utah and now Pennsylvania. Took my horse with me. Wonderful country and spectacular parks everywhere!

Male
Age 62
Married with wife and 2 adult children
Live in Fayetteville, PA
email at [email protected]
I have a Facebook Page (Jan Michael Price)
Retired
Like to travel, fish, woodworking

Landscape Architect and author. Trying to visit all the National Parks as a goal. Operate several websites including http://www.historic-hotels-lodges.com which features several hotels in National Parks. My personal website has lots of photo albums from my visits to national parks along with comments on the parks. My park photos are not the best, but are good enough that some of them have been used by the National Park Service for park related promotions and materials.

The grassroots campaign to Preserve Access to America's Beaches

Landed in Moab Utah when the 1972 Buick LaSabre alternator failed and it coasted to a stop at the Colorado River bridge north of Moab. One Desolation/Gray Canyon river trip later, after perusing Bert's Auto Supply (junk car yard) for a replacement alternator, astride the Buick's engine, I was considering an invitation by the hosting outfitter to stay on in Moab to run Utah river rafting trips.
It is 2009, 26 years later.

On occasion I've left to seek nirvana, each time finding my way back to be greeted by an umber landscape.

2010 and 2011: Seasonal Park Guides at the Statue of Liberty (Sara) and Ellis Island (Bruce) NM
2007 and 2009: Seasonal Park Rangers (Interpretation) at Mesa Verde National Park
2006: Seasonal Park Rangers (Interpretation) at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Buxton Lighthouse)

Bruce:
1978-2005: President/CEO of The Schundler company in Edison, New Jersey
1977-1978: Associate Minister at the Presbyterian Church in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
1975-1977: Associate Minister at the Congregational Church in Winnetka, Illinois
1972-1975: Associate Minister at the Congregational Church in New Canaan, Connecticut
2014: Seasonal ranger at Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful District.

Sara:
Physical Therapist for Sunny Days (NJ), Matheny School in Peapack, NJ, and Special Education District of Cook County (IL)
2014: Seasonal ranger at Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful District.

Jeff Pappas in the past split his time between Yosemite National Park and Colorado State University, where he taught courses in modern United States History and Public History, including the history of America’s National Parks. Today he is the State Historic Preservation Officer for the State Of New Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Arizona State University.

I get outside every chance I get. I enjoy the many parks, rivers and natural areas found in and within a few hours drive of the nation's capital. I've hiked in remote canyons in southern Utah, stood transfixed at Dead Horse Point near Moab, Utah. Some favorite places are redwoods forests in California, both inland and in coastal areas of Northern California. My favorite drive, bar none, is along the coast from San Francisco up to the northwest corner of Oregon. Big Sur south of S.F. another much loved spot.

I cannot count the number of times strangers have pulled me out of the path of traffic because I stopped in the middle of the street, enjoying some spectacular clouds I just noticed. I'm often looking up. Nature. Yes!

I'm a country guy who has spent 25 years working in various offices in downtown Washington, D.C. I think I've had about enough of that for one lifetime. I thought I was moving to Oregon from Los Angeles in 1980, but somehow ended up in Washington, D.C. Hey, 29 years later, I want to move to the State of Oregon or Washington State real soon. It is never too late to follow one's heart.

Temperature outside is the only thing I pay attention to. Forty-five degrees fahrenheit and up. Rain, fog, mist, heavy clouds. Fantastic! A warm, sunny, summer day? Yeah, fine, very nice. Dramatic, moody weather does it for me.

All the best to you !

Originally from Minnesota, I found a love for National Parks at a young age visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota and Yellowstone. I have been a seasonal interpretive ranger for 9 years now at such icons as Yellowstone, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Carlsbad Caverns, Everglades, Bryce Canyon, Zion and Mt. Rushmore. As the name implies, I am still wandering.

I was privileged to live and work in Alaska for more than three decades. The majority of this time was spent in the northern regions. We lived and taught school in a number of Native villages. In 1974, we traveled across northern Alaska by dog team covering approximately 1200 miles over a period of three months. From 1974 through 1976, I conducted research into the subsistence lifestyles of Native Alaskans living along the south slope of the Brooks Range. I then went to work for the National Park Service as a park planner assisting in the planning of the proposed Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. My involvement expanded to include several other park proposals. Over the years I served in Gates of the Arctic, Northwest Alaska Areas (Kobuk Valley Nat. Park, Noatak Nat. Preserve and Cape Krusenstern Nat. Monument), Katmai National Park and the Alaska Regional Office. I retired in 1998, and my wife and I now live in Hawaii.

Originally from the Show Me state of Missouri, Steve has worked for the NPS in Hawaii Volcanoes, Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. As a freelance videographer, his work has taken him to dozens of other parks, such as Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Death Valley, Redwood, Arches, Canyonlands and others. Currently, Steve produces videos and podcasts for Yosemite National Park, and you can follow him on Twitter at @YosemiteSteve

I recently completed writing and photographing a book, U.S. Highway 89: the Scenic Route to Seven Western National Parks, about the historic 1,600-mile route from Mexico to Canada, and the seven national parks along the way. I also contributed the color photos to The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, a book commemorating the centennial of Salt Lake City's beloved Roman Catholic cathedral.

I'm based in Salt Lake City, where I co-lead Utah's largest photography group, PhotowalkingUtah, teach introductory photography and digital editing, and write about my adventures on my blog, Ann-alog.

My documentary photos explore the interplay of the human element and landscape; transformations of culture -- what is kept, lost, and reinvented over time; passionate people of any stripe, and; the idea of the great American West.

Nurse for 20 years, grandmother, visited the park in my youth, want my grand children and greatgrand children to be able to know the parks