Are you a big fan of national parks? Do you plan your family vacations around a visit to places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Acadia or Zion?
Well, then you’re going to want to hear what David Govatski has to say. Govatski is a retired member of the U.S. Forest Service, who also just so happens to spend five or six weeks a year traveling around the country visiting national park units.
“I blame it on my parents who would drag me on these kinds of trips for summer vacation,” Govatski said.
In all, there are 417 units in the National Park System, and only 59 of those are actually national parks. The others include national monuments – of which there are 87 – historical sites, memorials, preserves, rivers and a bunch of other cool stuff around the country.
On Thursday, Govatski will speak at the N.H. Audubon’s McLane Center at 7 p.m. all about his experiences with the National Park System.
Of the 417 official units, Govatski has visited 369 so far and has another 12 on the calendar to experience this year.
“I do spend a fair amount of time traveling to these places,” Govatski said. “Public land is just so nice.”
Now there’s no way that Govatski can talk about all of the places he’s been in an hour and a half, so instead he’ll focus on about a dozen, and since this is an Audubon event, expect to hear about the nature and wildlife in those spots.
He’s going to cover a number of geographical locations, like Pinnacles National Park in California, Glacier National in Montana, Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida and Arkansas’s Hot Springs National Park. There will also be some variety as to the places he talks about – in other words, not all will be national parks.
“I’ll also talk about some that are in this area of the country,” Govatski said.
Govatski will also give tips on how to plan a trip to a national park unit, the best times to visit, what wildlife you’ll see, how to get the best bang for your buck and what information out there will be most useful.
“There are a lot of people who are on a quest, a lifelong journey to see them all,” Govatski said.
He will also take questions, so if you’ve got a trip planned, want to plan one or are just curious about a specific place, odds are he’s been there, so he’ll have some answers for you.
You can also expect to see quite a few pictures as well.
Cost for the presentation is $5 for Audubon members and $7 for nonmembers.
For more, contact Ruth Smith at 224-9909, ext. 313.
