The Changing Geography of National Parks and Protected Areas

Joe Weber is Professor at the University of Alabama. His research interests include the changing geography of the national park system, and especially changing boundaries and names, as well as the development of the American highway system.

Selima Sultana is Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her research interests span various domains, including urban and transportation studies, and national parks.  Her research often delves into the interactions between physical environment of neighborhoods and social factors such as class, race/ethnicity, gender, and daily mobility.

The co-editors recently published the book The Parks Belong to the People: The Geography of the National Park System and have been carrying out research on the national park system for over a decade, publishing a half dozen journal articles on the topic. They also co-founded the Protected Areas Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers, the leading group of academic geographers in the U.S.

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Changing Geography of Protected Areas (Joe Weber and Selima Sultana).- Chapter 2. Geographic Research on National Parks: A Review and Prospectus (Joe Weber and Selima Sultana).- Chapter 3. From Land Degradation to Habitat Loss: A Qualitative Assessment of Vegetation Cover in Protected Areas of Arid Lands (Xochizeltzin Castaneda-Camacho).- Chapter 4. The role of national parks in the development of disadvantaged karst areas in some European countries (Tamás Telbisz and László Mari).- Chapter 5. National Parks and Wildlife Restoration in the Global North: The Case of Wolves in the United States and France (Randall K. Wilson).- Chapter 6. Failed National Park Proposals in "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lary M. Dilsaver and Joe Weber).- Chapter 7. Equity and Inclusion in the National Park Service:  Historical Challenges, New Possibilities (Yonit Yogev).- Chapter 8. The Contentious Redesignation of the Gateway Arch National Park (Seth Kannarr and Michael A. Urban).- Chapter 9. Canyon de Chelly National Monument and the Vanishing Navajo Meridian (Joe Weber).- Chapter 10. Youth Visitor Trends in United States National Parks: A Preliminary Study (Matthew Balentine, John Crowell, Charles F. Holloman III, Michael Pretes).