For many, the National Park Service is seen as an agency of friendly rangers tasked with helping them get the most out of their national park vacation. But the agency is much more complex than that. Indeed, it could be seen as one of the country’s most science-focused agencies, as it deals with all sorts of "ologies" – biology, paleontology, archaeology, sociology, ecology, cetology, bioecology, and, in light of the popularity of dark night skies, even planetology.

With such a role in both the federal government and society, is the National Park Service living up to that role? Is it able to? Is the agency properly using science to guide its mission? To explore those questions, we’re joined today by Michael Soukup and Gary Machlis, coauthors of a new book, American Covenant, National Parks, Their Promise and our Nation’s Future.