This February 21st, marks the day Americans pause to remember the men who have led our nation in war and peace, good times and bad. America’s national park system contains the homes of our earliest presidents like George Washington and John Adams, to the newest national park, the birthplace home of President Bill Clinton.

This holiday began as a reminder of two great leaders in our country’s history, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Over the President’s Day holiday the George Washington Birthplace National Monument, located in the Northern Neck of Virginia, will treat visitors to special tours and a living history demonstration. In addition to the well known Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, there are also three other national park units celebrating the life of the 16th president of the United States of America, the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Kentucky, the Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial in Indiana and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois.

If you are in Washington, DC, you might want to visit The White House and Presidents Park, to see the icon that most of our Presidents have called home. Other parks across the nation that celebrate the lives of Presidents of the United States include:

	Thomas Jefferson, DC
	Martin Van Buren, NY
	Andrew Johnson, TN
	Ulysses S. Grant, NY
	James A. Garfield, OH
	Theodore Roosevelt, NY
	Herbert Hoover, IA
	Franklin Delano Roosevelt, NY
	Harry S. Truman, MO
	Dwight D. Eisenhower, PA
	John F. Kennedy, MA
	Lyndon Baines Johnson, TX
	Jimmy Carter, GA

You are the part-owner of 84 million acres of the world’s most treasured landscapes, ecosystems, and historical sites — all protected in America’s nearly 400 national parks. Chartered by Congress, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks. We work hand in hand with the National Park Service to help connect you and all Americans to the parks, and to make sure that they are preserved for the generations who will follow.

Join us — This Is Your Land. www.nationalparks.org

Celebrate African American History

This February, celebrate and support African American history in our national parks. From historic sites that preserve the legacies of the Tuskegee Airmen and Frontiersmen at Nicodemus, to the park units that tell the stories of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune and George Washington Carver, our national parks are rich with African American history.

Established in 2001, NPF’s African American Experience Fund (AAEF) works to support, commemorate and connect all Americans to the considerable contributions of African Americans throughout our country's history. “It’s critical to give all Americans, particularly younger generations, exposure to their history and the whole American story. Race is still a complex topic in our country, but through AAEF sites people are able to learn more about the diverse and rich experiences of African Americans and how these experiences are woven into the fabric of American history and culture” says Lydia Sermons, AAEF Executive Director.

By visiting these sites and supporting the African American Experience Fund, you ensure future generations will be able to experience some of America’s most magnificent cultural treasures and learn about our diverse American history. 

Next month, 4th – 8th grade students from all across the country will “visit” Gulf Islands National Seashore through our latest Electronic Field Trip! Now is your last chance to sign up your students or children to participate in one of our two broadcasts, airing March 1, 2011 at 10am and 1pm EST. Kids from almost every state in the country are registered to attend and discover how science is used to measure and manage both natural and human-influenced change in one of America's most beautiful national parks, so come and join them!

Even if your children cannot watch in the classroom, they can play, discover and learn about the national parks through fun electronic games they will love! The National Park Foundation has expanded its Electronic Field Trip library of interactive games with five new releases, all focused on Gulf Islands National Seashore. 

In “Survival in the Sea Grass Beds” students navigate the sea floor of the Gulf Islands in the form of animals as small as diatoms and as large as sharks. They work to avoid predators, search for food, and most importantly, stay alive! Other games allow kids to map the Barrier Islands, find residual oil in the water and on land, and to discover the differences between natural and human influenced change on the islands. 

Play these new games at www.electronicfieldtrip.org/gulfislands and also visit www.electronicfieldtrip.org for our library of past shows, games and lesson plans. 

In recognition of the forty men and women on board United Flight 93, who courageously battled the war on terrorism on September 11, 2001, Kongsberg Defense Corporation has donated $30,000 to the Flight 93 Memorial Fund.  Over 200 employees gathered at the company’s Johnstown, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility as Kongsberg’s general manager, Greg Platt, joined by Congressman Mark Critz, presented a check to Flight 93 National Memorial representatives.

“Flight 93 flew within a few miles of our location, so we feel a close connection to this story of heroism,” said Platt. “Our company is dedicated to building products that protect the lives of those who fight for our freedom. This fight began over the skies of Shanksville on flight 93. We hope this donation will help protect the place dedicated to remembering Flight 93’s passengers and crew for generations to come.”

For more information about the Flight 93 National Memorial, click here.

Photo: Kongsberg Defense Corporation in Johnstown PA presents a donation to the Flight 93 Memorial Fund

Recently, an America’s Best Idea Grant from the National Park Foundation provided funding for a Univision-23 special reality program, “Aventura y Diversión En Los Everglades” (Fun and Adventure in the Everglades). The reality program was intended to target the Miami-area, Spanish speaking communities living between two major national parks: Everglades and Biscayne. The show was designed to create a connection between America’s treasured national parks and a community with little or no engagement with them.

Following the Tolón family, lifelong Miami residents who had never visited Everglades National Park, on a weekend camping in the park, the television show highlighted the outstanding experiences available within the national parks and how easy it is to explore them in a fun and entertaining way.

"We had a blast and it definitely left a lifelong mark on me in regards to wildlife awareness...I have a new found respect for nature...Not that I hadn't before but it is different once you have an experience like ours. IT’S AMAZING!!!!!" said Helga M. Tolón.

To learn more about programs like this and show your support, click here!

The two-week, online voting campaign sponsored by Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation concluded on January 21, and thanks to an outstanding response from our passionate park supporters, the National Park Foundation was the top vote getter out of the four participating charities, earning a whopping 44.15 percent of the vote! Based on its percentage of overall votes, NPF will receive a total grant of $364,900! The Foundation will be using its grant to fund its America’s Best Idea Grants and its highly popular Electronic Field Trips (EFTs), which will allow millions of school children to experience America’s national parks as virtual classrooms, learning vital topics from climate change to geology to history, through an interactive online and broadcast experience. 

Thanks again to all who voted, we couldn't have done it without you!

The National Park Foundation's Owner's Guide is designed to make your national park experience better than ever. Full of advice about what to see and do, including maps of every state and links to each national park website, the Owner's Guide offers an insider's view of the special places we love and the opportunity to experience them to their fullest. Download an Owner's Guide for free, and explore your nearly 400 national parks as you never have before.