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The National Parks Conservation Association logo and bear silhouettes depicted on this page are trademarks of the National Parks Conservation Association used under permission.

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NATIONAL PARKS Magazine
©National Parks Conservation Association

In the summer of 1920, Robert Sterling Yard published The Nation's Parks, a richly illustrated 16-page booklet. It was, as Yard wrote, "issued by an association of citizens which seeks the finest possible upbuilding of a system destined to become one of our most valuable economic assets, and to promote the widest possible uses of the parks by all the people."

During the course of the next two decades, Yard irregularly published the National Parks Bulletin (click on link to access an electronic archive of selected issues).

Yard's successor was Devereux Butcher — a writer, photographer and conservationist. In 1942, Butcher began publishing the National Parks Magazine on a quarterly basis, becoming a monthly publication in January 1959.

Starting with the April 1970 issue the name was changed to National Parks & Conservation Magazine: The Environmental Journal, in part to reflect the organization's subsequent name change from the National Parks Association to the National Parks and Conservation Association (in the summer of that year). Starting with the January 1981 issue, the magazine was renamed once again simply as National Parks, becoming a bi-monthly publication in July 1981 and quarterly starting in 2004.

Over the years, the aim of National Parks has always been the same — to educate and inspire park supporters.

Here's a list of editors who have created the National Parks magazine.

Editor(s)	First Issue	Last Issue
Devereux Butcher	July-September 1942	July-September 1957
Bruce M. Kilgore	October-December 1957	June 1960
Paul M. Tilden	August 1960	June 1969
James G. Deane	July 1969	July 1969
Eugenia Horstman Connally	August 1969	November-December 1983
Marjorie Corbett/Michele Strutin	January-February 1984	November-December 1984
Michele Strutin	January-February 1985	September-October 1990
Sue E. Dodge	November-December 1990	September-October 1996
Leslie Happ	November-December 1996	September-October 1997
Linda M. Rancourt	November-December 1997	Fall 2006
Scott Kirkwood	Winter 2007	Summer 2015
Rona Marech	Fall 2015	———

Below is an archive of back issues; access to each issue is available by viewing either the issue Covers or by the Table of Contents (grouped by decade). The most current issue is also available on NPCA's Website.

National Parks magazine is copyrighted by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). NPCA owns the exclusive rights to these magazine issues and their contents including the trademarks and copyrights but has graciously granted us permission to post these back issues; please respect this copyright-holder by not re-posting this content. Use of these Web pages is under license from NPCA — you may only view the National Parks magazine covers and contents for your personal use and at your own risk; neither NPSHistory.com nor NPCA are responsible for any loss or damage arising from information or links contained within these pages. NPSHistory.com is not an official partner of the National Parks Conservation Association, but we are greatly appreciative of their 100+ year efforts to protect our national parks and for allowing us to share their history.