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San Antonio missions could get $200k... if you vote online

The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is fighting for a $236,000 grant to preserve historic frescoes, and only your votes will help procure the cash.

The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is fighting for a $236,000 grant to preserve historic frescoes, and only your votes will help procure the cash.

The #VoteYourPark contest is offering a six-day trip to Jackson, Wyo., and Yellowstone National Park in exchange for votes for preservation projects at 20 National Parks. One voter will get the grand prize, provided by National Geographic.

But the big winner, the contest suggests, will be the parks that split a $2 million prize for their projects. To get the check, however, the parks have to win the #VoteYourPark digital poll.

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This is the eighth time  that Partners in Preservation -- a collaboration of American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation -- has funded projects through an online poll, said spokesman John Hildreth, but the first time the grants have gone specifically to National Parks.

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The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial this year, so the groups worked together to highlight not only the well-known parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite, but also smaller parks like Minute Man National Park in Massachusetts.

"This was a way for us to share the breadth of what our national park system represents," Hildreth said. "This helps raise visibility."

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Each participating park — there's 20 of them from Denali in Alaska to the missions in San Antonio — has already received $100,000 to help spread public awareness about their proposed projects. At the end of the voting period on July 5, the top vote-getters will be funded.

As of midday Friday, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in the lead with a $250,000 project to restore Clingmans Dome Observation Tower. No surprise there, as it is the most popular park in the country. Rounding out the top five are Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park and World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The San Antonio Missions project is in 13th.

Here's the full list of participating parks. Vote online at nationalgeographic.com/voteyourpark.

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  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park — $250,000 for Clingmans Dome Observation Tower
  • Yellowstone National Park — $250,000 for Brink of Upper Falls Overlook
  • Grand Canyon National Park — $250,000 for Desert View Watchtower
  • Yosemite National Park — $97,000 for Parsons Memorial Lodge
  • World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument — $250,000 for Battleship Row Mooring Quay

  • Everglades National Park — $250,000 for Flamingo Visitors Center

  • Zion National Park — $191,000 for Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and Highway
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial — $250,000 for Borglum View Terrace
  • San Juan National Historic Site — $250,000 for San Felipe Del Morro Garitas
  • Denali National Park — $220,000 for Superintendent's Office
  • Mount Rainer National Park — $218,000 for Longmire Historic District Search and Rescue House
  • Joshua Tree National Park — $248,000 for Keys Ranch
  • San Antonio Missions National Historic Park — $236,000 for Mission Concepcion Convento and Father President's Office
  • National Mall and Memorial Parks — $249,000 for Columbus Fountain
  • Golden Gate National Recreation Area — $250,000 for Alcatraz Guardhouse and Sally Port
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site — $227,000 for Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church
  • Jefferson National Expansion Memorial — $250,000 for North and South Overlooks
  • Minute Man National Historic Park — $250,000 for Hargrove Barn and Parker's Revenge Battlefield
  • Pullman National Monument — $250,000 for Pullman Administration Building
  • Governor's Island National Monument — $245,000 for Fort Jay Trophee d'Armes