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What contains 17,000 miles of trails, provides habitat for almost 400 threatened or endangered species, and has about 275 million visitors a year? The answer is the Na-tional Park System. From the highest point in North America to the lowest point in the West-ern Hemisphere, the Park Sys-tem contains some of the most amazing sights on the planet.
If you visit Yellowstone National Park, you’ll have the chance to see otters playing in a mountain lake. You can stand at the very edge of a waterfall and watch it crash down more than 300 feet into the canyon
below. You can watch geysers like Old Faithful shoot steam-ing water more than 100 feet in the air. You might even see a wolf coming down to the wa-ter’s edge for a drink or a griz-zly bear and her cubs snacking on huckleberries!
Yellowstone was the first national park in history. It contains more than 300 gey-sers — almost two thirds of all the geysers on the planet! Con-gress decided to set aside this unique place “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” on March 1, 1872.
The Park Service itself was created in 1916 to protect and preserve the parks. Before that time, the Army watched over the parks.
The Park Service cares for many of America’s treasures. Some of these places are well known, like the Statute of Lib-erty and Yellowstone. Others are less familiar, such as the 365 miles of caves in
Mammoth Cave National Park.National parks preserve
historic areas and natural areas. Today, more than half of the national park areas have been set aside as symbols of Ameri-can history. These places keep a record of our past and culture. The founding of Yellowstone also began a worldwide na-tional park movement. Roughly 1,200 national parks now exist around the globe.
Our national parks protect the wildlife, landscapes, build-ings, and artifacts of American history. Ask your parents to take you to a national park on your next vacation!
Tomorrow’s PlaneTA newsletter for kids who want to make our world a better place
explore, enjoy and protect the planet
our national ParksPreserving America’s Legacy
Issue #15
The national Park serviceCaring for the
american legacyThe National Park Service was created in 1916 “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the 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 enjoy-ment of future generations.”
John MuirFather of Our National Park System
John Muir was one of Amer-ica’s most famous naturalists. He has often been called the “Father of Our National Parks.” He was also an inventor, a rancher, a writer, and explorer.
Muir was born in Scotland in 1838 and came to the U.S. at the age of 11. As a boy in Wis-consin, he roamed the woods whenever he could find time. As an adult, Muir would explore much of the country on foot.
In 1867, Muir walked one thousand miles from India-napolis to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1868, he walked across the San Joaquin Valley and into the Sierra Nevada mountains for the first time.
Over the years, Muir would travel to Alaska, Austra-lia, South America, Africa, and Europe.
In 1890, largely because of John Muir’s efforts, an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park. Muir was also personally involved in the cre-ation of Sequoia, Mount Rain-ier, Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon National Parks.
His writings convinced many people of the need to protect wilderness. He also led trips into the wilderness to show why it was worth protecting. In 1903, he took a famous trip with President Teddy Roosevelt.
Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892 to protect the wild places and the mountains that he had grown to love.
artifacts: Objects produced or shaped by humans, such as tools, weapons, or ornaments of archaeological or historical interest.
endangered species: A species of plant or animal that is present in such small numbers that it is at risk of extinction.
Geysers: Natural hot springs that periodically eject columns of water and steam into the air.
Habitat: The place or environment where a plant or animal normally lives and grows.
Preserve: Keep safe from injury, peril, or harm; protect.
Unique: Existing as the only one of its kind.
words to Know
Become a Junior ranger or webrangerInterested in exploring?
Want to learn about animals, sailing ships, dinosaurs or trains? Would you like to learn more about the national parks that belong to you?
You can help protect nation-al parks and the wildlife in them — even if you can’t visit them right now.
The Park Service has Junior Ranger Programs that let you see and interact with the parks at your own pace and in your own time. Junior ranger Programs
www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.htm
webrangers www.nps.gov/Webrangers
President Theodore Roosevelt with John Muir at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park
There are 58 national parks and a total of 391 areas — including monuments, battlefields, and seashores — protected by the Park Service.
275 million people visited national park areas in 2008.
Every year, National Park Service sites generate 246,000 jobs.
Crater Lake National Park has the country’s deepest lake — 1,932 feet to the bottom.
Denali National Park is home to Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet
Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level.
national Park resourcessierra Club and the national Parks
Learn about the Sierra Club’s work to protect our national parks through our interactive map. Get tips for visiting the parks and more! www.sierraclub.org/parks
national Park service
Find detailed information on
each national park, learn about upcoming events and more. www.nps.gov
animal & Bird Tracks Knowledge Cards
Next time you’re in one of our parks, learn how to tell a badger track from porcupine footprints with a set of knowledge cards that fit easily
in your pocket or day pack. www.sierraclub.org/store
The national Parks: america’s Best Idea
Watch clips of Ken Burns documen-tary on the history of our national parks and use additional online resources on the PBS website. www.pbs.org/nationalparks
national Parks by the numbers By 1890, the bison that
had covered the Great Plains were almost gone. Tens of millions had been killed. Less than 100 wild bison survived in newly created Yellowstone National Park. This last free herd ensured the survival of bison in the wild.
The first national parks were established for their scen-ery or history, but their role in protecting wildlife is just as important. The parks have become arks carrying wildlife into the 21st century. Bald eagles, grizzlies, bison and wolves all found homes in the parks while they disappeared from much of the rest of the country. Today, the parks pro-tect almost 400 threatened or endangered species.
However, even the parks aren’t safe from global warm-ing. Glacier National Park had 150 glaciers when it was founded in 1910. Now it has
25. Pikas in Yosemite are moving higher up the moun-tains to escape the heat. Half the corals in Virgin Islands National Park have suffered bleaching and disease caused by rising ocean temperatures. In the Everglades, many ani-mals and plants may find their home drowned by rising sea levels.
Protecting these arks in the future will require a seri-ous effort to control global warming, and we’ll need to protect the air and water around them from pollution to keep them strong.
Parks as arks
Tomorrow’s PlaneTBy Ann Pinkerton and Eileen Weckerle
For additional copies please, contact:Sierra Club Member Services Attn: Printed Materials85 Second Street, 2nd FloorSan Francisco, CA 94105Phone: [email protected]
Visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/education/newsletter
w h a t t h e s i e r r a C l u b i s D o i n g t o P r o t e c t o u r n a t i o n a l P a r k sThe Sierra Club is working to protect and preserve our national parks by:
C Working to ensure that the giant sequoias of Giant Sequoia National Monument are managed by the National Park Service and fully protected from logging
C Fighting to stop uranium mining in the public lands
surrounding Grand Canyon National Park
C Working to prevent a large building project near Acadia National Park
C Developing a Climate Recovery Agenda to curb global warming and protect all of our national parks from climate change.
To learn more go to: www.sierraclub.org/parks
Tell us what you’re thinking!Draw us a picture of your favorite national park! If we print your drawing, you could get a Free Sierra Club backpack, hat or children’s book. Go ahead — tell the world what’s on your mind!
name age/Grade / Submissions become property of the Sierra Club and may be used without limitation or restriction.
Printed with soy-based ink on 30% post-consumer recycled paper/Fall 2009
