Creating Energy-Efficient National Parks

Dec. 4, 2008— -- With the Obama transition dominating headlines it is easy to forget there is still a first family living in the White House.

While President Bush's schedule may be just as full of "good-bye" meetings as President-elect Obama's is full of Cabinet selections, that hasn't stopped one White House resident from continuing to fight for one of her passions -- the National Park Service.

First lady Laura Bush counts the country's National Park system among her many priorities.

She serves as the honorary chair of the National Park Foundation and has repeatedly fought to raise the park system's profile and support efforts at park conservation.

Even her theme for the White House Christmas decorations last year was inspired by the national parks. Now, a year later, as she prepares for life outside the White House, Bush is getting the word out that the parks are coming together to strive for a new goal: energy efficiency.

Watch the story Saturday on Planet Green's "Focus Earth."

"All the big, natural landscapes, the fabulous Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier -- they have always tried … to protect and conserve their landscapes," Bush said. "But now they are working together to see what they can do to make sure [all the parks] are really energy efficient."

In an interview with ABC's Bob Woodruff to air Saturday on Planet Green's "Focus Earth With Bob Woodruff," she remembered falling in love with America's national parks at the age of 8, when her Girl Scout troop traveled to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

Since then she says she has "hiked for years in the national parks with women that I grew up with in Midland and we've hiked in all the big Western parks from Denali in Alaska to Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite and then this year we hiked on the east coast in Acadia National Park in Maine."

Yellowstone, the first national park, was created by President Grant in 1872. He signed a law that "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

In 1916 the National Park Service was created when President Wilson signed the National Park Act. Now, more than 135 years after the first national park was established the National Park Service, the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior are joining forces to make all the parks in the system more energy efficient with a new program called SmartPARKS.