Our National Parks: The Pride of America

THE PRIDE OF AMERICA OUR NATIONAL PARKS From the founding of the first national park in 1872, the U.S. National Park System has existed to conserve history and protect the vast landscapes and abundant diversity of life found throughout our nation for the benefit of all future generations of Americans. A HISTÓRY OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS 1830 1832 NORGIS THE American artist George Catlin worries that the buffalo who roamed Yosemite Valley and the Native Americans who depended on them 1872 Following the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, Congress is convinced to withdraw regionsth Guich would someday be gone forever, and calls for a "nation's park" to save both. within the territories of Montana and Wyoming 1864 from public auction, prompting President Ulysses 1860 S. Grant to sign a bill creating Yellowstone, the world's first national park. California state leaders seek to protect the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove from the effects of rising commercial interests, resulting in President Abraham Lincoln 1890 signing an act of Congress ceding the region President Benjamin Harrison signs bill Snowshoe Cabin GIbbon M to the state to "be used and preserved for the ists Paint benefit of mankind." Check Sevser Springs gina Co. creating Yosemite National Park. SADDCE 1906 Fer Lake bon Cany 1916ascades Concerned about protecting native ruins and aryl Springwith no central organization, the national Falls artifacts on federal lands, President Theodore 1900 parks lack protection and funding. In Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act, providing the response, President Woodrow Wilson authority to restrict use of public lands. creates the National Park Service as a branch of the Department of the Interior. 1919 PYRAAIL Mary Lake 1933 Under federal protection since 1893, Arizona's Grand Canyon is finally recognized as a national President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs park under President Woodrow Wilson. Executive Order 6166, which yser ntoots consolidates all national parks, 1955 MT. CHITTENDEN monuments, cemeteries and memorials 1940 IIl-equipped to handle post World War II into the single National Park System. .oBrid tourism, the National Park Service Crou initiates Mission 66, a 10-year program CH East Entr intended to dramatically expand park 1972 service by constructing visitor centers, Yellowstone celebrates its 100th birthday: utilities and roads. national park attendance reaches 165 million. 1973 ESERVATION (Thumb Cheoking Ste President Richard Nixon signs the Endangered Species Act; at least one or more endangered VENSON 1980 species is found in more than half of the Delu 2013 national parks. Pinnacles National Park, CA, becomes our most recent national park.elake MU SCHURZ MT. HUMP Snowshos CabincOLTERPEAN FACTORY LEWIS LAKE Bet Spriegs HEART LAKE MTSHER TODAY The National Park System The system is made up of: 59 national parks includes more than 450 natural, 103 national monuments historical, recreational and 29 national memorials cultural areas throughout the ...as well as: United States, its territories national military parks, national parkways, national recreation areas, national seashores, national and island possessions. scenic riverways, national scenic trails NATIONAL PARKS ACROSS AMERICA ALASKA HAWAI VIRCIN ISLANDS AMERICAN SAMOA "There is nothing so American as our national parks..The fundamental idea behind the parks..is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us." President Franklin D. Roosevelt The National Park Service is a bureau The National Park System is made up of of the U.S. Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 84.6 MILLION ACRES of natural, historical, recreational, and and is led by a director nominated by cultural areas throughout the United States. the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The largest national park is the WRANGELL-ST, ELIAS NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE in Alaska, which covers 13.2 MILLION ACRES that's more than twice the size of Maryland! The smallest national park is the THADDEUS KOSCIUSZKO NATIONAL MEMORIAL in Philadelphia, PA, which covers just .02 ACRES a little more than 871 square feet! 1,500 PARK RANGERS serve to protect our historic lands and wilderness. That's 1 ranger for every 56.4 THOUSAND ACRES of park land. Gerald Ford is the only president who served as a park ranger in the National Park Service. Employed in the summer of 1936 as a seasonal park ranger, he recalled that time as "One of the greatest summers of my life." DEPARTMEN HE INTE Department of the Interior The U.S. Department of the Interior is a Our National Parks Service is an operating U.S. governmental department and serves unit of the Department of the Interior and as steward and guardian of our nation's was created to oversee the parks, which, natural resources and cultural heritage. prior to 1916, were individually managed. MARCH 3, 1849 THE NATIONAL PARKS FOUNDATION MISSION The National Park Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service, enriches America's national parks and programs through private support, NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION inspiring generations of national park enthusiasts. IN NATIONAL PARKS, YOU'LL FIND THE HIGHEST POINT IN NORTH AMERICA Mt. McKinley at 20,320 feet in Denali National Park and Preserve, AK THE LONGEST CAVE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD 3,454 miles mapped at Mammoth Cave National Park, KY THE NATION'S DEEPEST CAVE 1,593 feet deep in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM THE DEEPEST LAKE IN THE UNITED STATES 1,932 feet deep at Crater Lake National Park, OR THE LOWEST POINT IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley National Park, CA A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR PARKS YOSEMITE Tuolumne, Mariposa & Madera Counties, California LAND MASS:747,956 acres PARK VISITORS (2011): 4,098,648 Giant Sequoias, which grow in Yosemite National Park, are the BIODIVERSITY: W Mammals: Approximately 90 species largest plants on Earth. Birds: More than 150 regularly occurring species > Amphibians: 12 species Reptiles: 22 species Fish: 6 native species Flowering plants: Approximately 1,500 species CALIFORNIA Trees: 35 species Meadows: 36,620 acres YELLOWSTONE Park, Teton & Gallatin Counties, Montana Park County, Montana & Fremont County, Idaho LAND MASS:2,221,766 acres PARK VISITORS (2011):3,394,321 BIODIVERSITY: 2 Mammals: Approximately 67 species MONTANA Y Birds: 322 recorded species > Amphibians: 4 species e Reptiles: 6 species Fish: 16 species (5 non-native) IDAHO Trees: 7 species of conifers Lodgepole pine: Approximately 80% of forest Native plants: Approximately 1,150 species Exotic plants: More than 199 species Yellowstone has about 300 active geysers and the largest concentration of free-roaming wildlife in all of the lower 48 states. GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS Swain & Haywood Counties, North Carolina Sevier, Blount & Cocke Counties, Tennessee LAND MASS:521,085 acres PARK VISITORS (2011): 9,008,830 TENNESSEE BIODIVERSITY: Mammals: Approximately 65 species Birds: More than 200 regularly occurring species Amphibians/Reptiles: 80 species NORTH CAROLINA Fish: 50 native species Though populations are variable, biologists estimate approximately 1,500 bears live in the park, a density of approximately two bears per Flowering plants: Approximately 1,600 species Trees: 100 native species square mile. Shrubs: 100 native species SOURCES: Brought to you by http://www.nps.gov/ Online MPA Degrees.o http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/history/timeline COM http://www.doi.gov/facts.html http://www.georgecatlin.org MPA@UNC http://ecotopia.org/ecology-hall-of-fame/john-muir/biography http://tclf.org/pioneer/conrad-wirth/biography-conrad-wirth http://sierraclub.org/history/timeline.aspx Created by OBizMedig 388