Cover image: In 1959, National Park Service naturalist and interpreter Earl W. Estes Jr. photographed farmer C.H. King cradling oats on land leased from Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 141 in Virginia. Begun in 1935 and extending for 469 miles, this scenic motorway carried tourists between Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, with stops at all the points of interest in between. Agricultural land leases, like the one between King and Blue Ridge Parkway, were mutually beneficial, preserving the parkway's rural character and providing a livelihood for the farmer. They also eased park maintenance costs. Today, agricultural land leasing is a key component of resource management strategies at many national parks. (Courtesy of Blue Ridge Parkway. Special thanks to Blue Ridge Parkway curator Jackie Holt and National Park Service historian Tim Davis for their assistance.)

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