Big Cypress – Florida
Big Cypress is not exactly a national park, but a national preserve. A national preserve allows certain traditional uses to continue while still protecting the land. When Congress established Big Cypress in 1974, it became one of the very first two national preserves in the country,
Big Cypress protects nearly 729,000 acres of land, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. There are countless ways to explore its varied landscape, including boardwalks and trails. Birds are everywhere along with alligators and a mosaic of swamps, cypress and mangroves.
Big Cypress also regulates the freshwater flow that feeds the fisheries, agricultural land and drinking water for many Floridians. It is a quiet preserve that sustains the life and communities that are rooted in its waters.
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Charles Pinckney National Historic Site – South Carolina
In 2018, while traveling to Charleston for a wedding, I took a side trip across the Cooper River to a place connected to the founding of our nations: Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. This site in Mount Pleasant, S.C., preserves Snee Farm, land once owned by one of America’s Founding Fathers. Charles Pinckney was born […]
Valley Forge – A Different Kind of Battleground – Pennsylvania
The last time I visited Valley Forge was in 2019. So many of our National Parks are preserved because they were battlefields: places where lives were lost and freedom was defended. Valley Forge is different, it is not a battlefield, no shots were fired here. Yet it remains one of the most important sites in the […]
Homestead National Historical Park – Nebraska
Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, Nebraska preserves the story of one of the most transformative legislations in American history: The Homestead Act of 1862. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, the Act allowed citizens to claim 160 acres of public land if they lived on it, built a dwelling and farmed it for […]
