America's National Parks At a Glance

Thomas Crochetiere

Description

"America's best idea" ~ our National Park units!

As of 2016, the United States National Park Service oversees 410 park units. They are found in all 50 states, including Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Listed by state and territory, this book gives you a glance at these amazing National Parks, including the disbanded and proposed units. Whether it is in the mountains, the deserts, the prairies, on waterways or in urban areas, America's National Park units are unique and different from one another. Each unit is a jewel amid the national treasure and they all have a story to tell, if you have the time to listen.

Sujets

• History
• United States
• Histoire

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 13 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456626648
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

America’s National Parks At a Glance
 
 
by
Thomas Crochetiere

“A merica’s best idea” ~ our National Park units!
 
As of 2016, the United States National Park Service oversees 410 park units. They are found in all 50 states, including Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
 
Listed by state and territory, this book gives you a glance at these amazing National Parks, including the disbanded and proposed units. Whether it is in the mountains, the deserts, the prairies, on waterways or in urban areas, America’s National Park units are unique and different from one another. Each unit is a jewel amid the national treasure and they all have a story to tell, if you have the time to listen.
 
Thomas Crochetiere
 
 


 
 


Also by Thomas Crochetiere
 
Remembering my Miss Vicki – a Biography [2011]
Our Life Well-Lived – a Memoir [2012]
 
 
Cover photo of Half Dome at Yosemite National Park
by Thomas Crochetiere

 


All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review or advertisement for this book.
 
Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Crochetiere
[e-mail]
 
First Edition-First Release, 2016
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2664-8
 
Published in the United States of America
 
 
Edited by: Thomas Crochetiere
Proofread by: Jeannie Fitzsimmons and David Smith
Photos courtesy of the National Park Service and Thomas Crochetiere
“There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. The parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle.”
 
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32 nd President of the United States
 
 
“Growth and development of national park and reserve programs throughout the world are important to the welfare of the people of every nation. We must have places where we can find release from the tensions of an increasingly industrialized civilization, where we can have personal contact with the natural environment which sustains us. To this end, permanent preservation of the outstanding scenic and scientific assets of every country, and of the magnificent and varied wildlife which can be so easily endangered by human activity, is imperative. National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our national resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today.”
 
~ John F. Kennedy, 35 th President of the United States
Acknowledgments
I wish to personally thank the following people for their comments and suggestions that helped to shape this book: my wife Sandra Crochetiere, friends Jeannie and Gerald Fitzsimmons and Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith.
 
M y thanks also go out to Arin Tripp for allowing me to share her beautiful watercolor at the end of this book and to the National Park Service for the use of their wonderful photos throughout the book.
An Introduction to the National Park Service
“A merica’s best idea” - our National Park units! On March 1, 1872, the United States Congress , under President Ulysses S. Grant, established Yellowstone National Park. Our first National Park, Yellowstone is located in what were then the Territories of Wyoming and Montana. This park was established “as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” to be administered by the Department of the Interior.
 
D ue to poaching and destruction of natural resources, the U.S. Army arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1886 and built Camp Sheridan for the protection of the Yellowstone National Park. Over the next 22-years, the army constructed permanent structures and Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort Yellowstone. During this time, the army developed their own policies and regulations that permitted public access while protecting wildlife and natural resources.
 
I n the years following the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, the United States authorized additional National Parks and Monuments. Many of these parks were carved from federal lands in the west and were also placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. During this time, natural and historical areas and other monument areas were administered by the War Department and the U.S. Forest Service. No single agency provided unified management of the various federal parklands.
 
A dditions to the National Park System are now generally made through acts of Congress and National Parks can only be created through such acts. Under the “Antiquities Act” of 1906, the President has authority to establish National Monuments on lands already managed by the U.S. government. Devils Tower in Wyoming was declared to be the first United States National Monument on September 23, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt using the Antiquities Act.
 
O n August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act” creating the National Park Service. This new federal bureau was still under the Department of the Interior and responsible for protecting the 35 National Parks and Monuments it managed and those yet to be established. The mission of the NPS is “to conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
 
A merican industrialist and conservationist, Stephen Mather led a public campaign to promote the creation of this unified federal agency to oversee National Park administration. On May 16, 1917, Mather was appointed as the first Director of the National Park Service. He served in that capacity until January 8, 1929, during which time he created a professional civil service organization, increased the numbers of Parks and National Monuments and established systematic criteria for adding new properties to the federal system.
 
W hen the National Park Service was created, many of the management principles developed by the army were adopted by the NPS. On October 31, 1918, the army turned over control to the National Park Service, ending their roll with the parks.
 
I n 1933, an Executive Order was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferring 56 National Monument and Military sites from the War Department and Forest Service to the National Park Service. This action was a major step in the development of today’s National Parks System; a system that includes areas of historical as well as scenic and scientific importance.
 
I n 1970, the “General Authorities Act” was signed to improve the administration of the National Park System. “Congress declares 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 major region of the United States, its territories and island possessions; that these areas, though distinct in character, are united through their interrelated purposes and resources into one National Park System as cumulative expressions of a single national heritage; that, individually and collectively, these areas derive increased national dignity and recognition of their superb environmental quality through their inclusion jointly with each other in one National Park System preserved and managed for the benefit and inspiration of all the people of the United States; and that it is the purpose of this Act to include all such areas in the System and to clarify the authorities applicable to the system.”
 
T he Department of the Interior’s National Park Service makes every effort to meet its original goals, while filling many other roles as well. The Park Service is the guardian of our diverse cultural and recreational resources; environmental advocate; partner in community revitalization; world leader in parks and preservation of community; and pioneer in the drive to protect America’s open space.
 
T he 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. The National Park Service employs more than 20,000-employees to care for America's National Parks. Along with the help of many volunteers, partners and communities across the nation; these parks help to preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities for all to enjoy.
 
A s of 2016, the United States National Park Service oversees 410 park units. The number of units can vary and be misleading based on the language of the Congressional legislation when each park was created. For example, Denali National Park & Preserve is counted as two units, since the same name applies to a National Park and an adjacent National Preserve. Yet Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve is counted as one unit, despite having a similar designation as Denali.
 
A nother example would be that Rainbow Bridge National Monument is counted as a unit, even though it is adjacent to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. However, the Grand Canyon-Parashanat National Monument is not counted even though it is adjacent to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
 
E lsewhere, Alcatraz Island National Historic Site is not counted as a unit because it is considered a feature of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Other units like the Kern River Natio