The Ranger Desk

Parks

National, state, and local parks, as well as forests, wildlife preserves, national recreation areas, and museums: there are so many special places around the world worth exploring and protecting. Learn more about them and the people who care for them.

Discover national parks that celebrate American Latino heritage, a community whose stories and culture are woven into the fabric of America.

When nature calls: National parks are being overwhelmed with human waste. Here are the reasons why and how not to be a part of the problem.

Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage is celebrated in America's national parks. Here are three such parks, and links to many more.

Being a park ranger is not as dangerous as people think, but it can be. My most dangerous ranger job was climbing the side of a cruise ship.

Learn what an interpretive theme is and what it isn't. A theme is not a topic. A theme is the glue that binds the topics together.

Take time for your mental health. When we wake up and are not okay, we should all have the right to take a Karen Day.

Discover 10 wild facts about Everglades National Park, including the best time to visit and how to breakfast with manatees.

Learn lessons from the dead: take a trip to Shiloh Battlefield, where an abandoned ancient village sits amid the relics of war.

Ever wonder how to stay safe in bear country? Here are seven safety tips and several bear stories from a former national park ranger.

An interpretive park ranger conveys a park's story. Every park has a story, a reason that it was protected and staffed with park rangers.

Butterflies, children, and guns. How a terrified child's question about butterflies changed the way I thought about migration and borders.

Why are there no stupid questions to ask a park ranger? Because the biggest questions provide the biggest opportunities to learn.