National Park Service

Ever heard of Sing Peak in Yosemite National Park? Turns out, it has nothing to do with music. It honors the park’s Chinese immigrant past — and an amazing backcountry chef named Tie Sing. A park ranger at Yosemite did some digging and unearthed the hidden history of Sing and the immigrants who helped create the park we know today.

Many around the world have mocked the inability of US government officials to cooperate and end the government shutdown. Those who aren’t laughing include people from around the world whose visits to US national parks have been ruined.

America’s National Park Service maintain some 84 million acres of land, 4.5 million acres of oceans and lakes and countless miles of rivers and seashores — and it’s growing. This summer, three monuments were added to the National Park Service and two more were put under the care of the Bureau of Land Management.

With the sequestration budget cuts coming quickly, there are countless examples of how the budget cuts will have real world consequences. The National Park Service, advocates say, will be forced to greatly reduce operations to cope with mandated cuts.

Just roughly 3 percent of America’s historic landmarks document the history of women, African-Americans and Native Americans. But an effort is underway as part of the Obama administration to broaden that historical reach, and include more locations important to Americans from diverse backgrounds.