The story of the parks is the story of us — a commitment to protect the places we cherish. The action of ordinary citizens inspires the next step in the protection and enhancement of our national pride.
Most scenic & historic places have been set aside for the use of the public as national parks. "National Parks are spacious land areas essential in their primeval condition and so outstandingly superior in beauty to average examples of their several types as to demand preservation intact and in their entirety for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of all the people for all time." The concept of a "national park" is an innovation that, in part, grew out of the conservation movement that began in the nineteenth century.
In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established to be “dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and delight of the people.”
The burgeoning of national parks reflected contemporary intellectual, social, and economic changes that to a growing appreciation for wilderness and wildlife, a desire to escape the increasingly urban places that resulted from industrialization, and the popularization of the automobile. With increased awareness of and sensitivity toward nature came the desire to preserve some of the most spectacular landscapes and significant historical and cultural sites for the enjoyment of future generations. People want to visit these places to experience their beauty firsthand, whether they travel by train, steamship, or, increasingly, by car.
It is no coincidence that the first national park was explored and established in the same decade that saw the publication of a great variety of articles and books about nature and wilderness. Several of the writers associated with the national park movement, including Clarence Dutton, Ferdinand V. Hayden, Clarence King, Nathaniel P. Langford, John Muir, and John Wesley Powell, described the spectacular scenery of the western United States. The Appalachian Mountain Club, one of the first private conservation organizations, was founded in 1876 to protect and preserve eastern wilderness areas. The United States Geological Survey, which undertook responsibility for surveying and mapping lands in the national domain, was established as a separate bureau within the Department of the Interior in 1879.
Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872, but the National Park Service was not established until 1916. For four decades the nation's parks, reserves, and monuments were supervised at different times by the departments of War, Agriculture, and the Interior. Although the idea of national parks enjoyed broad popularity and congressional support by the early twentieth century, there was some resistance to converting reserves and monuments into new national parks. This was partially the result of a lack of coordinated policy and leadership in financing and administering the parks that already existed. Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane's appointment of Stephen Tyng Mather as the first Superintendent of Parks (1915-29) did much to alter the situation. Mather was a leader in the transformation of the poorly managed and underfinanced national parks and monuments into the centrally administered National Park Service. Under his dynamic leadership, Grand Canyon, Acadia, Bryce, Zion, Lassen, Hawaii, and Mount McKinley National Parks were established. He successfully lobbied for enabling legislation that ensured the future creation of other parks, including those that involved purchase from private owners in the eastern United States, such as the Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, and Mammoth Cave.
The national parks of today are public resources for recreation, education, scholarship, and the preservation of endangered landscapes, natural communities, and species. They exist in twenty-five states as well as the Virgin Islands and include areas as diverse as the "river of grass" that makes up the Everglades, the mountains and valleys of Yosemite, the volcanoes of Hawaii, and the Denali Wilderness of Alaska. Some of them were purchased by private individuals who then generously gave them to the nation; others were taken from the public domain in order to protect them from agricultural or commercial development and exploitation.
An important part of each national park's story is reflected in its maps. Each park went through the initial stage of discovery, then exploration, and finally accurate mapping. In the first stages, physical and cultural features were often inaccurately portrayed and some were completely absent from the earliest maps.
Maps tell the story of when and how each park was established, and record physical growth as boundaries were established and expanded. Government mapping, frequently beginning in the discovery and exploration phase, provided an increased understanding of the unique features of an area, such as the locations of bodies of land and water, topographic and geological attributes, and the presence of historic and cultural artifacts.
Among the most current maps of the national parks are those produced by the National Park Service for official park brochures. Roads, trails, campsites, and other amenities that enable the public to experience more fully the unique features of the park are shown on these maps, which are frequently updated to reflect changes in land use. The close relationship between map and park is symbolized and reinforced by the presentation of a Park Service map to visitors as they pass through the park gateway to explore a special place that has been set aside and preserved for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
World-wide view & a few words on the definition.
The goal of preservation is to protect the environment from the harmful effects of human activity.
Why is preservation necessary? In 1800, the world’s population was one billion people. Today it is over seven billion—and it continues to rise. An increase in people means a greater demand for water, food, lumber, and other resources that come from natural environments. Increasing demand can drive people to exploit resources, even in regions well-protected by preservation laws. Conservation and preservation are closely linked and may indeed seem to mean the same thing. Both terms involve a degree of protection, but how that protection is carried out is the key difference. Conservation is generally associated with the protection of natural resources, while preservation is associated with the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes. Put simply conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use.
Wilderness preservation is fundamental to the idea of deep ecology – the philosophy that recognizes the inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs.
Lastly, what are the examples of successful stories we can feel proud of?
Gateway National Recreation Area.
Interprets America’s largest port, its oldest surviving lighthouse.
Valley Forge National Historic Park.
After a harsh winter in Valley Forge, the Continental Army emerged from their encampment in June 1778 a more united and disciplined fighting force. Today, the park utilizes both long- and short-term leases, and a multi-year plan enables the National Park Service to identify future leasing projects that benefit the park.
Shenandoah National Park.
Just 75 miles from Washington, D.C., Shenandoah National Park encompasses 200,000 acres and eight Virginia counties.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is possibly best known for its five Century of Progress homes, which were a part of the Century of Progress International Exposition for the 1933-34 World’s Fair in Chicago.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
One of the largest urban parks in the world, Golden Gate National Recreation Area protects significant historical, cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational resources.