Located 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii, the National Park of American Samoa is the most remote unit of the National Park System and the U.S. National Park south of the Equator. The Park spreads across three islands, 9,500 acres of tropical rainforest, and 4,000 acres of ocean, including coral reefs. While remote, the islands of American Samoa, true to the meaning of the word Samoa (Islands of Sacred Earth), are welcoming and offer beautiful landscapes and centuries of culture and history.
Seasoned backpacker and adventurer Yang Lu earned the grand prize in the 2015 Share the Experience photo contest with this image of a sunburst captured at sunrise in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah. Yang has made the outdoors part of his daily life and finds deep connection to the land through his lens.
“My photography is not just for recreation, it is to inspire people to explore these areas." -- Yang Lu
Photo by Yang Lu (www.sharetheexperience.org).
The plantings of cherry trees originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or "Sakura," is an exalted flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a potent symbol equated with the evanescence of human life and epitomizes the transformation of Japanese culture throughout the ages.
DOINews: Secretary Jewell Holds Roundtable with Scientists on Climate Change Impacts to the Pacific Northwest
Last edited 4/26/2016
Yesterday, Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, met with leading scientists and stakeholders to discuss the impacts of climate change on the Pacific Northwest region. At the meeting, Secretary Jewell highlighted Interior's role in the President's Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, move the economy toward cleaner energy sources and prepare communities for the impacts of climate change.
Gustavo Bisbal, Director of the Northwest Climate Science Center attended the roundtable and pointed out how the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, and vegetation are also having effects on the cultures of American Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest.
“Given the broad scale and fundamental transformation we see happening in the natural environment, the Northwest CSC has placed a strong emphasis on exploring the impacts of climate change on the cultural continuity of Native American communities in the Northwest,” said Dr. Bisbal. “Our goal is to provide service that enhances the capacity of these communities to respond and adapt to resource scarcity and environmental forces.”
Other attendees to the roundtable included Dr. Lisa Graumlich, a Prentice and Virginia Bloedel Professor and Dean at the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, Nancy Lee, Deputy Regional Director of the USGS Northwest Region and other USGS scientists; representatives of the Quinault Indian Nation; Sarah Creachbaum, Superintendent of Olympic National Park; Karen Taylor-Goodrich, Superintendent of North Cascades National Park Complex, as well as other Interior and University of Washington officials and scientists.