National Parks Traveler

Despite all the electronic gadetry that allows you to consume media, hard-bound and paperback books continue to hold a considerable marketshare. And more than a few of those titles have something to do with national parks. We read as much as we could this year, and came away with the following reviews for your consideration.

A prominent figure of Seattle, Washington, Carsten Lien grounded his career in business and government with a love for Olympic National Park. Alfred Runte recounts how Lien fought to save the park after observing that it had been logged. The result was a history of the park disclosing the controversy of saving old-growth forests from the Park Service itself. The book is again available as Olympic Battleground: Creating and Defending Olympic National Park. Second edition, reissued.

How long do you think it takes to summit Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve? For most climbers who summited this year, the average trip was about 18 days. For Kilian Jornet, it took less than 12 hours.

Grand Teton National Park officials, who have drawn ire over an annual elk hunt in the park, now are facing criticism for turning over management of wildlife on private inholdings within park boundaries to the state of Wyoming.