Tomorrow @audreypete.bsky.social joins #ParkChat with her compelling version of “All Hands on Deck”. I’m confident all will want to jump on chat. We’ll see everyone at 9:00 PM ET. @naturetechfam.bsky.social

A10: Artist-in-Residence programs are always worth checking out in the parks. This working loom was at Pipe Spring NM in AZ. #ParkChat

Q11 #ParkChat Authors associated with U.S. National Parks that have also been on #ParkChat include @tempestwilliams.bsky.social @audreypete.bsky.social Andrea Langford @craigtimes.bsky.social If you know another author that you’d like to me to bring on the chat tell me why. I’ll ask them.

A12 #ParkChat Next [email protected] joins us on @bsky.app for the second time. I suspect that she’ll have a lot to say. Please join us. @naturetechfam.bsky.social

Q1 #ParkChat Does anyone have an and announcement or a question?

Please show your gratitude to @adamsowards.net for hosting #ParkChat tonight and for powering through the glitchy performance from Bsky. Thanks so much Adam! @naturetechfam.bsky.social

A10 #parkchat I’ve personally been pretty impressed by the GuideAlong Apps. Haven’t made use of all of them, of course, but the few we’ve used were helpful and easy to interface with.

Q10: How about other types of media? Are there podcasts or art exhibits or photography or newsletters/blogs or other media forms that are must-haves for understanding and enjoying the parks for you? #ParkChat

Mine will be available in 2028, so stay tuned and be patient. #ParkChat

Q9: If you had all the time and talent in the world, what book about parks would YOU write? #ParkChat

A7 This book convinced me that the NPS needs to be expanded. 😉 #ParkChat

A7: I HIGHLY recommend looking up the Administrative History document for your favorite park. They're always a captivating read. A lot of them are at npshistory.com Otherwise, Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the NPS. Don't even want to THINK about a new edition of that. #parkchat

Q8: Have you ever experienced disappointment between parks and books? Perhaps the book wasn't as good as you'd have liked? Or perhaps the park wasn't as good as the book? Perhaps the natural history or trail guide was all wrong? #ParkChat

A7: The bulk of my home library are books about Lewis and Clark including this one. #ParkChat

A7 #parkchat Ferrell’s “The Battle for Yellowstone” and Todd Wilkinson’s “Ripple Effects have both induced major discussions in our home.

Q7: Books can be revolutionary. Has a book ever forced you to rethink a favorite park or the system more broadly? #ParkChat

Q6: In a time of fleeting media, books can seem more lasting. Is there a park book that you return to again and again? Why? #ParkChat

Q5: 1. Books and parks are inspirational. Are you more likely to be inspired to read about a park after visiting it OR more inspired to travel to a park after reading about it? #ParkChat

Q4: Imagine you are visiting a park for the first time. You go to the gift shop. Based on past experience, how many books are you likely to walk out having purchased and what are they about? #ParkChat

National Geographic of course. #ParkChat My apologies all. We are experiencing some of the same problems we had last month. I recommend that you respond directly to Adam’s account

Q3: If I looked inside your daypack, would I find any books? A natural history guide? A trail guide? A book of poetry? A polemic? A history? #ParkChat

Q1: Parks and books are among my very favorite things--and I love combining them. I bet many of you do too. Can you identify a favorite (or 3!) book about the parks--fiction or non-fiction? #ParkChat

Q2: Think back to an earlier time in your life when you knew relatively little about parks. What is a book or magazine you read then that helped introduce national parks to you? #ParkChat

Welcome to a special “Reading the Parks” edition of #ParkChat featuring a return visit from @adamsowards.bsky.social. Who’s back for what promises to be an outstanding 2026? Let us know where you are joining from please.

For your Sunday #ParkChat entertainment please read this article for your entertainment. I think the author makes some fair points. If I can’t get them to guest host I’d invite someone to weave a chat out of this on 3/18. travelbucketlist.xyz/national-par...

We don’t quite have our theme ironed out but I’m confident you’ll enjoy our first #ParkChat guest host of 2026 @adamsowards.net on Wednesday at 9 PM ET. Please join us. @naturetechfam.bsky.social @laurendanner.bsky.social @camarowrx.bsky.social

Our 1st time at Yellowstone and Grand Tetons was last year, and RMNP the year before. If you go to RMNP, don't forget a time pass on top of your park pass. Seen several cars that had to turn around after sitting in line just because they didn't have the time pass.

Did you know Effigy Mounds has a film series? #ParkChat

Fun read here: Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP is a park located on the Big Island with a unique history & an array of ecosystems. The NPS team at Kaloko-Honokōhau is very informed & dedicated to the land & ocean’s past history & present significance, sharing their knowledge with me so I can be respectful."

We did it! You have donated, subscribed, shared, and we are so grateful for your support. Because of you, we finished 2025 strong and have our full $150,000 donation match, raising a whopping $300,000 to fund our programs and operations in 2026!

@coolworks.bsky.social We’d really like to have you guest host #ParkChat. I have an opening for you on 3/18. Think you’d enjoy it and it would help your following. @naturetechfam.bsky.social

Trump's bill demotes nursing and teaching degrees, slashing loans to $20,500 yearly while costs hit $62k, deepening shortages with 1-in-8 unfilled classrooms and 13-26% nurse gaps by 2035. Policies corrode like rusted circuits, shorting essential lifelines. #NursingShortage

Next week #ParkChat gets of to a strong start to 2026 as we welcome the return of @adamsowards.net as our guest host. Remember there is not a chat tonight. @naturetechfam.bsky.social and I are looking forward to next week’s presentation. Happy New Year to all!

Do I know anyone else who is going to participate in the Miles for Maryland 250 mile challenge? Anyone want to be on a team? #ParkChat #MDDNR @marylanddnr.bsky.social dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/...

We don’t always know their names. Until we do. They loved these lands. Then asked others to give in their name. This New Year’s Eve, we honor their memory. The names of several from the last few years in the comment below. #BlackHills #NationalForests #NationalParks #parkchat

Rangers who met their spouse while writing resources studies, families remembering grandpa who dragged them out to Wind Cave every summer to camp, old biker dudes who love the Black Hills honoring their buddy's final ride. The parks touch so many lives in so many ways. #parkchat

Q6 #ParkChat 2026 brings me a new adventure. I'm getting on a plane and going to Europe (I don't fly well)! What are some new-to-you plans you have in store for 2026, Parks or otherwise? @59nationalparks.bsky.social

Beautiful story from @allisonburtka.bsky.social about her mom finding strength and courage at Glacier National Park www.sierraclub.org/sierra/i-too... #ParkChat

For #NewYearsEve today #ParkChat will operate on our “Holiday Schedule”. We’ll ask one question an hour for six hours beginning now at 9 AM ET. Jump on as your schedule allows. There will not be a regular chat tonight. We will return on 1/7 with @adamsoward.net as our special guest host.

Q1 #ParkChat When I ask AI “What’s new in 2026 for the National Parks” here’s the reply. Ok let’s hear it. What are your thoughts?

Q2 #parkchat Were you recently gifted some great new gear - or will you be shopping soon for new gear to add to your camper, campsite, or backpack kit for this coming year? Do you enjoy trying new &/or updating gear? [For fun: If you owned an outdoor outfitting company, what would you name it?]

Holiday hiking! Papago Park, Superstition Mountains, Canyon Lake (boat tour), McDowell Sonoran Preserve. #ParkChat

Q3: I'm content to not be in Times Square tonight. Maybe I'll hit a big city in the coming year. What’s an NPS site in a big (or biggish) city you’ve enjoyed or plan to enjoy in 2026? #ParkChat

@grandcanyontrust.bsky.social We would like to invite y’all to participate in #ParkChat and you are welcome to the chat as a guest host at your leisure. Please let me know if you have a questions. My photo is from 10/30. @naturetechfam.bsky.social @camarowrx.bsky.social

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Hills, support for our parks never paused or stood still. The gifts you gave, thoughtful and true, keep programs and parks moving all year through. Thanks for growing our online sales 62% this year! #YearInReview #parkchat

Q6 #ParkChat do you have any holiday traditions in your family? If so, what one tradition would you love to most share with a #parkchat friend if they were visiting you this month? @59nationalparks.bsky.social

Field Notes 2025 Day 2: Half the park is after dark, and you helped keep it magical. From Agate After Dark programs to a new telescope at Wind Cave to Moon Walks with Black Hills National Forest, your support helped protect and interpret the night. bhpfa.org/donate #NationalParks #YearInReview

This is a great piece by @civilwarmemory.bsky.social. I spent 25 years in the National Park Service, and everything he writes here about that fine agency’s work and about Betty Reid Soskin’s inspiration is spot on.

CLOSED: Wind Cave and Jewel Cave on Friday, Dec 19, 2025 Let our ranger friends do their ranger things to get things running again. Stay out of closed areas.