The National Park Service is trying to woo minority visitors

The National Park Service turns 100 years old on Thursday, and one of its goals for its second century is to attract more tourists of color to the 131,000 square miles of parks, monuments, and other public landmarks it manages. This isn't just a matter of diversity for diversity's sake or "this land is your land" idealism, say Felicia Fonseca and Beatriz Costa-Lima at The Associated Press. The U.S. is expected to be majority minority by 2050, and the National Park Service sees broadening its tourist base as an existential challenge.

"If public lands aren't telling their story, and they don't see themselves reflected in these beautiful places, they may not support them," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tells AP. "They may not recognize that these are their assets and protect them for future generations." Studies commissioned by the National Park Service suggest that about 75 percent of park visitors are white, and there are several reasons minorities don't visit in proportionate number.

For black communities, there's not a strong tradition of visiting national parks, due in part to historic exclusion, says Myron F. Floyd, a scholar at North Carolina State University. Jose Gonzales, the founder of Latino Outdoors, says many Latinos don't know the national parks exist or have no transportation to get to them. Many Asian Americans, meanwhile, face language barriers at national parks or don't like to travel outside their ethnic enclaves, according to Mark Masaoka at the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. You can see what the National Park Service plans to do about it, and be reminded of how beautiful some of the national treasures are, in the video below. Peter Weber

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