Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
and
the National Park System
Mr. Phipps
U.S. History
California State Standards
11.8.6. Discuss the diverse environmental regions of
North America, their relationship to local
economies, and the origins and prospects of
environmental problems in those regions.
11.11.5. Trace the impact of, need for, and
controversies associated with environmental
conservation, expansion of the national park
system, and the development of environmental
protection laws, with particular attention to the
interaction between environmental protection
advocates and property rights advocates
Introduction
The National Park System
is intended for
• All public use
• For Education
• For Recreation
Our National Park System
provides QuickTime™ and a
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• A sense of history
• Protection of wildlife
• Protection of
important/unique
geographic features
• Patriotism
• Conservation of valuable
natural resources
Timeline of Acts
(1864) Yosemite Act: First state park/preserve
(1872) Yellowstone Act: “Protect the Wonders”
(1890) Chickamauga Act: First war memorial
(1906) Antiquities Act: Authorized presidential power to create
parks
(1931) Predator Policy: Authorized parks as a “last stand” for victim
species
(1933) Civilian Conservation Corps: New Deal policy for
employment, conservation, and maintenance of parks.established
under $300,000,000
(1956-1966) Mission 66: Provided independent funding for park
rejuvenation
(1965) Concession Act: Guaranteed one concession per park
(1969) National Environmental Protection Act: Set ground rules
for Federal agencies
(1998) National Park Omnibus Management Ac: Improved
management of national parks
In the Beginning
State parks set aside to
protect and preserve
beauty
Parks received little more
than janitorial work
Problem: no central
organization and no laws
to govern them
Sec of the Interior, F. K.
Lane, needed a dept to
maintain the parks
Yellowstone, Yosemite,
and Sequoia
John Muir (1838-1914)
Background:
• Born in Scotland
• Immigrated to America in
1849.
• Dropped out into “university
of wilderness”.
Employment:
• Summer job of shepherd in
Yosemite sparked naturalist
interests
• Started the Sierra Club
1892. "Most people are on the world, not
in it; have no conscious sympathy
or relationship to anything about
them, undiffused, separate, and
rigidly alone like marbles of
polished stone, touching but Teddy Roosevelt
separate.” and John Muir atop
John Muir Hetch Hetchy
The Early Years: 1864-1932
American authors wrote about the problems of the cities, advocated a
return to nature
Yosemite commissioned first state park (1890), later upgraded to
national park (1906)
Chickamauga National Park (1890) First battlefield park
Earned recognition through President Theodore Roosevelt, who
advocated conservation and preservation as part of his Square Deal
National cemeteries already established after civil war
Roads build to encourage tourist auto access
Hetch Hetchy becomes the first major environmental debate: Should
the gov’t permit damming for electricity and water usage?
Commissioned Parks: Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier,
Zion, Rocky Mtn., Mt. McKinley, Grand Teton, Hawaii Volcanoes
Stephen T. Mather (1867-1930)
First director of the
National Park
Administration (1916-1928)
for $4,500 annual salary
Selected national parks for
their uniqueness
Employed “quality” people,
such as veterans
Upgraded park grounds for
public appeal
“There will never come
an end to the good that
he has done”
Mathers Epitaph
Yellowstone: 1872
1870: Marked first “official”
exploration of the territory;
• Gen. Henry D. Washburn led U.S.
cavalry to protect western settlers
from the Crow and Blackfeet
• Legends of park spread through
word of mouth
1872: Congress passed act for
“enjoyment of the people”
Later acts included botany,
zoology, geology and
commercialism
Travel was recently available from
the N. Pacific RR, but unsafe
because of Chief Joseph and the
Nez Perce
Yosemite: 1890
Government responded
to environmental
degradation by the gold
diggers to keep the
tourism alive
John Muir Nat’l Park Bill QuickTime™ and a
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in 1890 established
area as state preserve
National guard spent 30
years to protect park
from poachers
Ansel Adams
Started work for national
parks in 1919 as a janitor
for the Sierra Club HQ.
Love of nature sparked
by friend Francis Holm
Eastan, experimenting
with natural photography
Became main
photographer of the
natural beauty found in
the national parks
Kings Canyon becomes
a national park in 1940
under FDR
Aspen Grove
El Capitan,
Yosemite
Grand Tetons
Saguaro
Forest, Arizona
Saguaro Cactus,
Arizona
Pueblo, New Mexico
L.A. Freeway,
1960
National Park Service
National Park Service: Established
August 25, 1916
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