Dear Mr. Secretary, I hope you enjoyed your recent visit to Utah, and especially to Cedar Mesa and the new Bears Ears National Monument down in San Juan County. I read that you visited Butler Wash, among other places, and got a glimpse of the ancient Puebloan dwellings that are found throughout this monument. As you gazed up at those venerable stone structures tucked in beneath the cliff, I hope that you thought for a minute about the transience of civilizations and the need to ensure a better future for our own lives here in the American West.

The National Park Service manages and interprets some of the country’s most significant and poignant history. From Revolutionary War sites up to the Manhattan Project and the farmworkers movement to gay rights, the agency has a thick portfolio of properties to manage and stories to tell. With your tax-deductible contributions, we'll be able to tell more and more of those stories.

Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Sarah Craighead has announced that all river users in the park will have to wear personal flotation devices at all times when on Green River or Nolin River.

Sunset Campground in the Grant Grove area of the Kings Canyon National Park will remain closed until further notice. It was scheduled to open on May 24, but many trees killed by drought, insect activity, and a heavy winter created far more hazards than expected.