National Parks – Start with one, then discover them all!

The natural beauty of our land inspired it’s own preservation. Artist George Catlin, while capturing the splendor of the wilderness on canvas, became concerned about it’s possible destruction. With the help of many other painters of the time, who slowly brought the unspoiled nature and spectacular natural areas into the public eye through works of art, came the idea and interest of saving such amazing spaces.
Today, the United States has 58 protected areas known as national parks, which are operated by the National Park Service. However, the National Park System is actually comprised of 392 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state (except Delaware), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These areas include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House.
The very first national park was Yellowstone, which was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife 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.” Since that time, the American people have entrusted the National Park Service (NPS) with the care of their national parks. With the help of volunteers and park partners, the NPS is proud to safeguard these nearly 400 places and to share their stories with more than 275 million visitors every year.
For an area to be designated as a National Park it must be established by an act of the United States Congress. From the Badlands of South Dakota to the Everglades of Florida, from the Grand Canyon of Arizona to Mount Rainer of Washington, each and every state park offers a unique and rich natural surrounding.
Interesting Facts About Our National Parks:
• The largest National Park is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, AK – over 8,000,000 acres
• The smallest National Park is Hot Springs, AR, at less than 6,000 acres
• The most-visited national park is the Great Smoky Mountains, with over nine million visitors in 2008, followed by the Grand Canyon, with over four million.[
• Alaska and California have the most National Park, each with eight, followed by Utah with five and Colorado with four.
• The newest National Park is the Great Sand Dunes, CO established in 2004.
• The total area protected by national parks is approximately 51,900,000 acres
Ultimately, writer and historian Wallace Stegner said it best when he called national parks “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.”
To find out specific information on each of our National Parks, visit http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm