WASHINGTON — As he takes his family on a Father's Day weekend of hiking and sightseeing, President Obama is demonstrating that his most important legacy on national parks may be less about his policies and budget proposals and more about Obama personally.
Obama has visited 30 national parks during his presidency, lending the spotlight of his office to a National Parks Service campaign to encourage Americans to "Find Your Park."
Since 2009, the president's park visits include some of America's best-known and most-visited natural wonders: Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and the Everglades. Others are among the 23 national monuments he's dedicated during his presidency, like the Cesar Chavez National Monument in California and the Pullman National Monument in Chicago.
And then there's another national park Obama has promoted without having to go anywhere: the White House.
Obama adds two more parks to that tally this weekend, as he takes wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha to see Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and Yosemite in California. Amid the private family time, there will also be stunning photo ops and speeches about the importance of parks as Obama helps to mark the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
With his frequent visits and enthusiastic reviews, Obama is perhaps the best celebrity pitchman the national parks have had since his predecessor, President Teddy Roosevelt, set aside land for national parks before the National Park Service even existed.
The parks have had similar champions in the White House before — former first lady Laura Bush took annual trips with childhood friends to parks like Yosemite and has written a children's book with her daughter about national parks titled, Our Great Big Backyard.
But Obama's trips are different, in part because his trips are so high profile and because of the sense of awe and passion that he brings to his visits, said Theresa Pierno, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent parks advocacy group.
"What he's doing is unique, and I do think it’s having an impact," she said. "And going with his kids and his family makes it cool again."
The Obama White House has amplified those visits through social media. The cover photo to his official Facebook page is from his visit to Kenai Fjords National Park last September. It's a Facebook page he inaugurated last year with a video of a famous national park that most people probably don't realize is even a park — the White House.
"This has been my back yard for the past seven years," he said on the video, strolling on the south lawn. "It also happens to be a national park.
"A lot of what I do is just think about how I want to make sure that the beauty of this particular national park. but also national parks all across the country, and our planet, are going to be there for Sasha, Malia, their kids and grandkids, for generations to come."
National park sites visited by President Obama:
