TALKS

Mark Woods took a year-long sabbatical from his job as a columnist at The Florida Times-Union and spent a year in America’s national parks, trying to figure out what the future holds for them. He visited 12 parks, one a month, each symbolizing a different issue for the future, and realized the depth of his connection — indeed, many Americans’ connections — to these places. One of his epiphanies during the year was that the biggest issue for the future isn’t whether we’re loving our parks to death. It’s whether we’re loving them enough to keep them alive. The author Wallace Stegner called America’s national parks “the best idea we ever had.” We assume that because these diverse places are so beautiful, so important, and so special, they will always be there for future generations to enjoy — but this is hardly true. Preserving “America’s best idea” is a constant battle — one that has become even more urgent in the years since the National Park System turned 100 in 2016.