Steve Kemp

Author Steve Kemp has spent most of his adult life working in national parks, from cook at a park concession in the Grand Tetons to a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone and Denali to publications director for nonprofit park education partner Great Smoky Mountains Association (now SmokiesLife). A graduate of the University of Montana’s writing program, Kemp has written for magazines including National Parks, Outside, Outdoor Life, and Smokies Life Journal, and is the author of Trees of the Smokies, Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful, The Blue Ridge Parkway: In Celebration of the American Landscape (forthcoming) and the children’s book, We’re Going to the Mountains.

An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands

Uncovering the partnership that saved America’s natural treasures.

America’s national parks are facing unprecedented challenges. With visitation pressures mounting and the National Park Service struggling to keep up, author and former park ranger Steve Kemp looks toward one exceptionally effective historical example of conservation philanthropy and park building—the collaboration between John D. Rockefeller Jr. and NPS legends Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and Arno Cammerer.

 An Exaltation of Parks reveals the inspiring story of this collaboration, showing how the partnership transformed some of America’s most cherished national parks, including Acadia, Grand Tetons, Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. It recounts Rockefeller’s lifelong dedication to conservation, digging into his own pockets and toiling as a volunteer to achieve his goals for converting private land into public use. Bringing to life the history and significance of America’s most magnificent landscapes, this volume is both a tribute to past conservation victories and a call to action for the future, emphasizing the need for continued vigilance to preserve these national treasures for generations to come.