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National parks serve a vital role in maintaining ecological biodiversity, supporting our economy and providing cultural preservation and education. By nature, National Parks contain a wealth of natural resources such as hydraulic power, minerals, land, timber and thermal waters that many industries would be interested in owning for profit. Industrial interference would make these beauty spots off-limit, not to mention disrupt their native ecosystems and food chains. National Parks are largely free of development and human interference in the natural ecosystems, which means healthy flora and fauna and cleaner air, water and soil. They’re also well-organized to keep hikers on designated trails minimizing destruction of land. National parks also serve a vital economic role. US National Parks see approximately 318 million visitors every year who help support the countless communities surrounding the parks, and the NPS estimates it provides some 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs within the parks system, including biologists, engineers, historians, law enforcement officers and curators.

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The primary purpose of national parks is the preservation of the natural environment for the benefit, education and enjoyment of others. In the US, national parks protect areas of natural beauty including the plants and wildlife that live there, and provide access, recreational opportunities and educational programs for people to learn about these natural habitats. Once an area receives National Park status, it means that the area’s resources and landscape will be protected from most development, excepting amenities like access roads, trails and toilets. Without national park designation, many of our most treasured beauty spots might be lost, either to landowners seeking to develop them for profit or to industries looking to mine precious resources. Designating areas like Rocky Mountain National Park and Zion as National Parks helps keep them safe from development an destruction so that their ecosystems can continue to thrive and so that future generations can continue to enjoy them

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One of the most significant controversies centered on the building of the Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park. It was, in fact, Congressional approval of the dam's construction in 1913 that helped underscore the need for a federal agency dedicated to the nation's parks.

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Eighty-nine percent of parks suffer from haze pollution; Soils and waters in 88 percent of parks are affected by air pollution which in turn impacts sensitive species and habitat; And climate change is a significant concern for 80 percent of national parks, though all parks are affected to some level. “The poor air quality in our national parks is both disturbing and unacceptable. Nearly every single one of our more than 400 national parks is plagued by air pollution. If we don’t take immediate action to combat this, the results will be devastating and irreversible,” said Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). “When people think of iconic parks like Joshua Tree or the Grand Canyon, they think of unspoiled landscapes and scenic views. I think they would be shocked to know that these are actually some of our most polluted national parks. Air pollution is also posing a health risk to some of the 330 million people who visit our parks each year, as well as the communities who surround them. The challenges facing our parks are undeniable, but so is our resolve to help clear their air and ensure they are protected as they were meant to be, by both their founders and by the laws in place to protect them.”

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this quote was said by a National Park ranger

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Failing to recognize the importance of individual animals in the public mind ignores the reality of human nature—we are more likely to connect to individuals than populations. Naming animals or referring to them individually is not myopic. Using an animal’s life history, characteristics, and behavior to relate information about populations and ecosystems is not wrong either. It is necessary.

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Controversy continues to swirl around the Hetch Hetchy Dam even now. There have been lawsuits over whether San Francisco violated the agreements of the Raker Act. The National Park Service conducted research to determine what would happen if the dam were removed, and people have repeatedly proposed costly studies to further understand the consequences of removing the dam. In 2019, Restore Hetch Hetchy commissioned another study that found enormous ‘recreational value’ from removing the dam. They suggest that draining the reservoir and turning Hetch Hetchy Valley into a tourist center similar to Yosemite Valley could be worth up to $178 million per year.

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San Francisco had its eyes on this water source early on and repeatedly tried to acquire water rights to the Tuolumne River. But Hetch Hetchy was a federally protected as part of Yosemite National Park. Building a dam there was off the table. Then, in 1906, a devastating earthquake caused a series of fires in San Francisco that destroyed 25,000 buildings across 490 city blocks. The inadequacy of the city’s existing water supply came into sharp focus. San Francisco applied once again for rights to Hetch Hetchy in 1908. Of course, the proposal was immediately opposed by environmentalists including the Sierra Club and John Muir. As Muir famously protested: “Dam Hetch Hetchy? As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.” In spite of Muir’s eloquent and heated objections, the Raker Act was signed into law in December of 1913. San Francisco could flood the valley and work began the following year.

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John Muir played many roles in his life, all of which helped him succeed in his role as an advocate for Nature. As America’s most famous naturalist and conservationist, Muir fought to protect the wild places he loved, places we can still visit today. Muir’s writings convinced the U.S. government to protect Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as national parks.

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Friendship of Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt

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Friendship of Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt

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The friendship that bloomed between Pinchot and Roosevelt was based on their shared love of the outdoors. Their combined work sparked federal action to conserve areas of cultural significance and great beauty. Pinchot also collaborated with Roosevelt’s administration on the National Forest Commission and as Chairman of the National Conservation Committee.

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“Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men.” 

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Gifford Pinchot established the modern definition of conservation as a “wise use” approach to public land. Conservationists believe in using land sustainably to preserve it for future generations, rather than allowing it to be exploited and lost forever. Pinchot’s conservation theory has often been conflated with John Muir’s idea of preservation. Muir believed that human actions could harm our nation’s landscapes and therefore should be avoided, sharply restricting access to these lands.  Pinchot’s ideas paralleled those of President Theodore Roosevelt and together the two led a national conservation movement. Today, Pinchot’s philosophy of multiple use continues to influence the mission of federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

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Nature cannot be restocked_ Nature is not for…

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Glacier National Park, Montana, is 100% fairy tale from every angle_ (OC)

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Photo taken in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

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The National Park System of the United States now comprises more than 400 areas covering more than 84 million acres in 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. These areas are of such national significance as to justify special recognition and protection in accordance with various acts of Congress. Additions to the National Park System are now generally made through acts of Congress, and national parks can be created only through such acts. But the President has authority, under the Antiquities Act of 1906, to proclaim national monuments on lands already under federal jurisdiction. The Secretary of the Interior is usually asked by Congress for recommendations on proposed additions to the System. The Secretary is counseled by the National Park System Advisory Board, composed of private citizens, which advises on possible additions to the System and policies for its management. The National Park Service still strives to meet its original goals, while filling many other roles as well: guardian of our diverse cultural and recreational resources; environmental advocate; partner in community revitalization, world leader in the parks and preservation community; and pioneer in the drive to protect America's open space.

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By the Act of March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. This "Organic Act" states that "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations…by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." An Executive Order in 1933 transferred 56 national monuments and military sites from the Forest Service and the War Department to the National Park Service. This action was a major step in the development of today's truly national system of parks—a system that includes areas of historical as well as scenic and scientific importance. Congress declared in the General Authorities Act of 1970 "that the National Park System, which began with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, has since grown to include superlative natural, historic, and recreation areas in every region…and that it is the purpose of this Act to include all such areas in the System…."

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Platt, Oklahoma (National Recreation Area)

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Theodore Roosevelt was considered to be one of the crusaders in starting the National Park Systems within the US. In his term he was considered to be the "conservation president". As president from 1901 to 1909 he doubled the number of sites within the National Park System as well as establishing five new national parks: Crater Lake, Oregon; Wind Cave, South Dakota; Sullys Hill, North Dakota; Mesa Verde, Colorado; and Platt, Oklahoma. the Platt park is now apart of the Chicasaw National Recreation Area. By the end of 1906 he had proclaimed four national monuments: On September 24 he proclaimed Devils Tower (Wyoming). On December 8, he proclaimed El Morro (New Mexico), Montezuma Castle (Arizona), and Petrified Forest (Arizona). Additionally, he interpreted the authority expansively, protecting a large portion of the Grand Canyon (Arizona) as a national monument in 1908. By the end of his term he had reserved six predominantly cultural areas and twelve predominantly natural areas in this manner. Half of the total land area was initially administered by the Agriculture Department and was later transferred to Interior Department jurisdiction, since the National Park Service would not be created until 1916.