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.
"The National Park Service General Authorities Act of 1970 is an amendment to the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916. By this amendment, the Congress of the United States required the entire National Park System be managed as a whole, and not as constituent parts."
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, Spain, 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.
Today more than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 400+ national sites and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities.
Fun Facts:
* Australia created the world's second national park, when they created their first national park in 1879. Today many countries have national parks.
* Denali National Park & Preserve in Alaska is 6 millions acres (24,281 square kilometers) of wild land-with only one road. Denali is home to North America's tallest peak, Mount McKinely which is 20,320 feet (6,193 meters) tall.
* The hottest place on earth was recorded in a National Park! In 1913, it hit 134 degrees F (56.6 degrees C) in Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada. It often hits 120 degrees F (48.8 degrees C) in the shade in Death Valley!
* Besides breathtaking views, National Parks provide homes to a wide variety of native plants and animals; animals include wolves, cougar, deer, eagles, seals, fox, songbirds, bobcats, black bears, raccoons, and fish. You can even find dinosaurs, or their bones anyway!
* The 13.2 million acre (53,418-square-kilometer) Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is the United States' largest national park. The 80-square-meter Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Pennsylvania is the smallest.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
TTFN:
Obozo changed the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali.
ReplyDeleteI am now caught up. Did you read all of my blogs? Keep those blogs and letters coming.
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