Katherine DeGroff

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The Women Behind the Brotherhood

Mar 26, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

The nation’s first factory strike took place 200 years ago — and it was led by women. In 1824, more than 100 women, some as young as 15, walked off their textile mill jobs in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in protest of extended working hours and reduced pay. Their radical activism inspired hundreds more workers and townspeople to join in a collective outcry that resulted in a settlement with the mill owners.
Rocky Days

Mar 26, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Spring 2024 By Katherine DeGroff How Chiricahua National Monument’s hoodoos and history helped one writer find her footing in the great outdoors. I slowed the car and peered at the unassuming sign: “No services.” Six weeks prior, I’d suffered a life-threatening infection that resulted in a stint in intensive care, so this felt like a “here be dragons” challenge and warning in one.
A Muted Morning

Mar 26, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Spring 2024 By Katherine DeGroff How one Civil War site is dialing back the noise — and light — to provide a more inclusive park experience. A hush tends to settle over Gettysburg National Military Park in the winter months. By then, the busloads of students and caravans of history-loving vacationers have dwindled. Dipping temperatures and bitter winds also tend to curb the enthusiasm of day-trippers.
A Hoof Too Far

Mar 23, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Fall 2022 By Katherine DeGroff An aggressive stallion from Assateague Island National Seashore gets relocated. You can’t go home again. That adage proved true for one unruly horse this spring when Assateague Island National Seashore exiled Delegate’s Pride. The park site’s feral, free-roaming equines — likely the descendants of mainland horses brought to Assateague in the late 1600s — are one of its main attractions.
Ditching Disposables

Mar 21, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Fall 2022 By Katherine DeGroff Single-use plastics are no longer welcome in national parks. Magazine Article Plastic is polluting oceans and national park beaches alike, and new studies show that even the tiniest pieces pose a large threat. The cat’s out of the non-recyclable, non-compostable bag: National parks have a trash problem.
Following the Flood

Feb 26, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Fall 2022 By Katherine DeGroff How a foot race helps one Pennsylvania town remember a historic tragedy. “You’re the nicest bunch of 200 people I’ve seen,” joked Clifford Kitner as he surveyed the dozen or so runners shaking out limbs and bouncing on their toes in the 57-degree mist of a late May morning.
Overrated

Feb 25, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Summer 2021 By Katherine DeGroff How artist Amber Share turned the rants of national park killjoys into a viral sensation. Most people rave after visiting a national park. A quick Google search reveals scads of gushy — if banal — praise: “This place is breathtaking,” “Oh, the views,” “What a fantastic, beautiful park.”But even parks have their trolls. “Too many birds,” one displeased traveler wrote online after a trip to Channel Islands National Park.
Coral Calamity

Feb 25, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

The May 29 monitoring excursion started like any other for members of Dry Tortugas National Park’s Coral Response Team. The sky was clear and bright, the ocean calm. The ambient temperature, a balmy 80 degrees, matched that of the water. With captain Emily Dropiewski at the helm of the park’s 25-foot Boston Whaler, they cruised to their first dive site.
Safe Passages

Feb 25, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Summer 2021 By Katherine DeGroff A new children’s book shows how highways can harm wildlife — and puts a spotlight on a deadly stretch of road near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In the children’s chapter book “A Search for Safe Passage,” author Frances Figart spins a tale of wildlife banding together to cope with the dangers of a human highway that cuts through the mountains where they live.
A Fruitful Mission

Feb 20, 2024 | npca.org | Katherine DeGroff

Winter 2022 By Katherine DeGroff As the park system’s fruit trees reach the end of their lifespans, staff are scrambling to save them. Matt Mohrman plans to keep a watchful eye on the young apple trees of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore come spring. Should any of them blossom for the first time, he will move among them, pinching off each delicate, snowy whorl. His actions may be troubling to watch, but they will be necessary to achieve his goal.