By Jennifer Allen

Saturday, April 19, 2025, was the first day of National Park Week, an annual celebration of America’s 433 national parks. Admission to all parks was free that day, and many of the parks have special activities planned for visitors through April 27.

If you’re unsure where to go during the nine-day celebration, EXP Journeys, the leaders in luxury travel experience curation, picked their top national park destinations. Their selections combine exclusivity, exploration and conservation, highlighting the most pristine and lesser-known corners of the country’s truly breathtaking landscapes.

Capitol Reef National Park

First on their list is Capitol Reef National Park. Often the most overlooked of the five national parks in Utah, it offers unimaginable natural wonders – and it feels like you have them all to yourself. It’s not impossible to go hiking and rarely see another person on the trail.

Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect the striking Waterpocket Fold – a 90-mile-long geologic wrinkle. The Fold extends 70 miles from Thousand Lake Mountain across a spectacular eroded jumble of cliffs, domes, monoliths, twisting canyons and graceful arches, all the way to the Lake Powell Reservoir on the Colorado River.

No reservations are needed to enter, whether you want to hike the nearly 40 miles of trails or pack a lunch and leisurely drive the unpaved roads into the scenic backcountry. Afterwards, check in to one of the local hotels in Torrey, Utah, the state’s first International Dark Sky Community. See thousands of stars in the night sky with your naked eye. While the park is worth visiting year-round, the best time of year to visit Capitol Reef National Park is often considered March to June or September to October.

Denali National Park

Spanning more than 6 million acres, Denali National Park epitomizes Alaska’s raw and untamed beauty. Home to North America’s tallest peak, Denali offers an extraordinary wilderness experience where vast glaciers, snow-capped mountains and roaming wildlife create an adventurer’s paradise.

Beyond its legendary hiking trails, visitors can embark on aerial tours, witness the Northern Lights and paddle through pristine waters in a kayak, on a SUP board or raft out on the water. Pro and amateur anglers will want to check out Chelatna Lake. A premier fishing destination, the waterway harbors all five species of Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, grayling, northern pike and lake trout. The best time to explore Denali is from June to August when the days are long, and wildlife is most active.

Glacier National Park

Spanning over a million acres in Montana’s Rocky Mountains, Glacier National Park stands apart. Ancient glaciers shaped this pristine wilderness. As these mountains of ice travelled, they carved out a dramatic landscape of rugged peaks, alpine lakes and sweeping valleys. Wildlife sightings abound, from mountain goats and grizzly bears to elusive wolverines and lynx.

EXP Journeys founder Kevin Jackson says, “Glacier National Park inspires families to explore, learn and connect, creating memories that last a lifetime. Exploring this 1,583-square-mile wilderness area in Montana’s Rocky Mountains with an EXP guide provides knowledgeable access to a tremendous amount of hiking trails, alpine lakes, cycling opportunities and wildlife watching. One amazingly scenic trek is to Avalanche Lake, where massive mountains surround the lake.”

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Very few paved roads exist in the park’s miles of primitive and unspoiled landscape. The exception is the Going-To-The-Sun Road, a 50-mile paved two-lane highway which winds along almost every type of terrain in the park.

April 19 is National Junior Ranger Day, and it’s hard to beat the program at Glacier National Park as it engages young adventurers in the park’s rich natural history. Families can also enjoy a leisurely hike along the Trail of the Cedars. And from mid-May through September, you can explore Lake McDonald by boat. The prime season for visiting Glacier National Park is mid-June through mid-September.

Other chart toppers

The theme for the 2025 National Park Week is National Park Playlist, and it celebrates musical connections to national parks and the American story. Some of the other events at United States national parks include National Volunteer Week. Celebrate the existing volunteers and consider signing up yourself. It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment – even a few hours of your time are appreciated.

Earth Day also falls during National Park Week. Celebrated for 55 years, one billion people in 193 countries host events and celebrations of the planet, its resources and our commitment to protect it. Many of our national parks will have special Earth Day demonstrations of earth science or discussions of the latest environmental concerns.

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area straddles Kentucky and Tennessee, protecting the Cumberland River. They are offering 50% off backcountry camping permits on Saturday, April 19, for National Park Week. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is doing a special 4-mile National Park Week guided hike to the park’s only sandstone arch, Sunday, April 20. Several of the national parks are hosting clean-up days during National Park Week. Check the National Park Service website for details.

Jennifer Allen, retired chef turned traveler, cookbook author and writer, shares her adventures and travel tips at All The Best Spots. Living at home with her family – and the cats that rule them all – her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Seattle Times, MSN and more.

By JEFF ROWE

Alan Weisman has found an all-world cast of scientists, engineers and environmentalists who have dreamed big and worked passionately to repair some of the world’s wrecked ecosystems and also to develop processes that, for example, use far less energy than we get from oil

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Take Azzam Alwash, for example. An engineer, he lamented destruction of thousands of square miles of marshes in Iraq that date to Biblical times and were his birthplace. Birds, fish and other animals flourished in the wetlands until Saddam Hussein drained them to flush out enemies to his regime.

The wetlands in the world’s hottest region were thought beyond resurrection.

Weisman writes that to Alwash, however, “impossible often masks a lack of imagination.” He marshaled the resources to restore much of the wetlands and a miracle followed: wildlife returned..

Some of Weisman’s chapters will make readers wish they had paid more attention in high school science and chemistry classes.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have made astonishing progress in developing commercial-scale fusion energy that could produce great quantities of clean energy. Such breakthroughs are critical on a planet now dependent on fossil fuels, which produce carbon dioxide that traps heat in the atmosphere.

To those who scoff at mentions of human-caused environmental catastrophe as a hoax or fake news, consider this: Weisman’s bibliography runs 74 pages. And the type is small. He spent several years researching and reporting on this book and visited a dozen countries.

“As long as we let them keep on, there is hope,” writes Weisman, referring to the people he writes about in this book.

News also has overtaken the publication of this book. President Trump’s threats to withhold money from Harvard and other universities would have a drastic effect because so many of the world’s brightest students come to study at American research universities, contributing to the steady stream of American scientific breakthroughs.

Weisman set out to find inspirational people doing extraordinary work to save the planet.

He found them and their work can save us from writing a catastrophic next chapter for our earth.

Global warming skeptics often assert that some of the people Weisman calls visionaries are misguided nature enthusiasts, but what could we lose in making the planet cleaner and greener?

Nothing, and our children and grandchildren will be grateful.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA, Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — A panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court justices unanimously accepted criminal charges Tuesday against six more key allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged coup plot to keep him in office after his 2022 election defeat.

Last month, the panel unanimously accepted charges against Bolsonaro and seven close allies over the alleged coup plot following his loss to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and ordered the former right wing leader to stand trial.

When Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet accused Bolsonaro and 33 others of attempting a coup, he divided them into five different groups, based on their roles and positions in the alleged plot.

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Bolsonaro and his closest allies, including running mate Gen. Braga Netto, were placed in the “core group,” according to the charges. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court panel reviewed charges against the second group, which Gonet said held managerial roles.

The second group includes former presidential foreign affairs adviser Filipe Martins, retired Gen. Mario Fernandes, former Federal Highway Police director Silvinei Vasques, former presidential aide Col. Marcelo Câmara and two federal police officers, Fernando Oliveira and Marilia Alencar.

These individuals coordinated actions planned by the core group, Gonet said in the indictment. These included mobilizing police officers to support the alleged coup, monitoring authorities and drafting a document intended to justify a state of emergency.

Bolsonaro and his allies have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. The former president says that he’s being politically persecuted.

Bolsonaro has been hospitalized for more than a week, recovering from bowel surgery. On Monday, from his hospital bed in Brasilia, he gave an interview to local television network SBT and said that his trial wasn’t technical, but political.

Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction alone carries a sentence of up to 12 years, but when combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars. The former president is expected to stand trial in the next few months at Brazil’s Supreme Court.

“In just a few days, the mayor will present his executive budget for the coming fiscal year. It must prepare us for the storm ahead—something his preliminary budget proposal, released in January, unfortunately failed to do.”

A city budget deal is due July 1. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

New York City’s economic and fiscal health is under assault by the Trump administration. We need to strengthen our city budget to withstand the attack.

In just a few days, the mayor will present his executive budget for the coming fiscal year. It must prepare us for the storm ahead—something his preliminary budget proposal, released in January, unfortunately failed to do.

Even before Trump’s second inauguration, it was clear that New York would be a prime target. Now, just three months in, the damage is already mounting.

Trump’s chaotic policies—on tariffs, immigration, and the rule of law—are rattling the global economy and hitting New York City especially hard. International tourists are canceling trips at alarming rates, whether from Canada, Europe, or Latin America. With tourism standing as one of the city’s largest economic sectors, this drop-off threatens thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue.

Few cities are as exposed to global trends as New York. From Wall Street to Broadway, from hotel workers to food vendors, our economy depends on international engagement—and Trump is actively unraveling it.

Businesses here are already pausing investment, faced with skyrocketing prices for everything from steel to avocados. Small businesses, especially restaurants, are being squeezed by supply chain disruptions, unpredictable costs, and the chilling effect of a crackdown on immigrant workers.

Then there are the direct hits to our city budget. The Trump administration has already slashed $100 million from our health department and $188 million from our migrant shelter system. That’s just a fraction of the nearly $8 billion we receive in direct federal aid—funding that supports everything from public schools to affordable housing to subway service. All of it is now at risk.

And worse may be coming. Republicans in Washington are pushing a federal budget that promises tax cuts for billionaires, paid for by gutting Medicaid, food stamps, early childhood education, and other programs critical to low-income New Yorkers.

Meanwhile, the broader economy is showing signs of strain. A growing number of experts now warn that Trump’s chaos could push the U.S. into a recession—something New York City cannot afford to be unprepared for.

That’s why we need to act decisively in the city’s upcoming budget. We need to do three things:

First, increase our reserves. We should add at least $1 billion to the General Reserve Fund and another $1 billion to the Rainy Day Fund. These are our buffers—the tools we’ll need to cushion the impact of either federal cuts or declining revenues. Failure to strengthen them is like going into a fight with one hand tied behind your back.

Second, stop playing budget games. Every year, the city under-budgets for known costs like overtime, rental assistance, and special education. These are not surprises—they are recurring obligations. Pretending they don’t exist only weakens our ability to respond to real emergencies. This year, we need honest, accurate projections from the start.

Third, make targeted investments to protect vital services. That means plugging the holes that Trump has already blown in our budget, such as in public health programs, and preparing a plan to shore up vital services in education, housing and more.

If we fail to move quickly, we’ll be forced into more painful, reactive choices later. Acting now means minimizing the harm down the road.

New York City has tremendous strengths: a vast and diverse economy, an unmatched workforce, and a proven culture of resilience. Every time we’ve been tested, from 9/11 to the COVID pandemic, we’ve fought our way back and emerged stronger.

But resilience isn’t just about grit. It’s about preparation. We owe it to the people of this city to meet this moment with clarity, discipline, and resolve.

Donald Trump may think he can beat us. But he can’t. New Yorkers don’t flinch. We plan. We fight smart. And we win.

Mark Levine is the Manhattan borough president, a former City Council member and a candidate for New York City comptroller.

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