It's not Mardi Gras, but it's a helluva an event.

April 17 – 25 is National Parks Week. That’s right, for those who may be calendar impaired, that means it’s going on right now.

The nine-day event is intended to showcase the parks, encourage tourism and educate about the unique landscapes, plants and animals so abundant in each. Granted, mid-summer may be a better time for such an event but then the free admission incentive to all 392 parks would result in even more devastating financial erosion, which our drastically under-funded parks can ill afford.

However, a vast majority of parks and monuments do not charge admission ever, so it’s not like our parks are ever really that restrictive. And hell, if $30/car prevents you from driving into Yosemite Valley, well then, you don’t care about it anyway.

Events are happening at the parks, national monuments and recreation areas throughout the country and are primarily targeted at families, which is a good thing, because it’s the future generations that will be saddled with the burden of dealing with the close-minded, financially-foolhardy decisions that have governed our parks for the last two decades. So the more junior knows about them, the better.

If you happen to be close to an event, stop by. Meanwhile, here is a sweet lineup of National Park images from National Geographic to remind you of just all that is out there.