Read complete books and articles on: National Parks

National Park Service - The National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, was established in 1916 to oversee the administration of 40 national parks and monuments under the charge of the department. The National Park System now comprises some 380 areas of scenic, historic, or scientific interest totaling more than 84 million acres (34 million hectares). The units are classified into natural, historical, recreational, and cultural groupings to facilitate park management and to identify areas by their prominent characteristics. The National Park Service has seven regional offices—in Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Denver; Philadelphia; Omaha, Nebr.; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C. Instructed by an act of Congress to "conserve the natural and historic objects in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations," the National Park Service has varied responsibilities, directing a wide program of construction in addition to educational and protective work.

Congress laid the foundation of the National Park System in 1872 when it established Yellowstone National Park. It then accelerated expansion of the system in 1906 with the passage of the Antiquities Act, which permitted the president to proclaim national historic landmarks, structures, and "other objects of historic and scientific interest" on federal lands. The authority created by this act has been used by presidents to establish more than 100 national monuments, some of which have since been designated by Congress as national parks. Until 1925, when an act was passed authorizing acceptance of donated land, nearly all of the National Park System was carved from public lands. In 1933 the National Park Service was given trusteeship over areas previously under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture and War depts. Congress has since authorized the preservation of significant historic sites and the establishment of national memorials, national historical parks, national parkways, national lakeshores and seashores, national recreation areas, national military parks and battlefields, national rivers and wild and scenic riverways, national scenic and historic trails, and national preserves. Not all of these areas are managed by the National Park Service, however; some national monuments, for example, are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (see Interior, U.S. Department of the). See the National Parks and Monuments table. See also National Forest System; National Marine Sanctuary Program; wilderness; wildlife refuge.

See publications of the U.S. National Park Service; J. Muir, Our National Parks (1901, repr. 1988); F. E. Allen, Guide to the National Parks of America (1992).

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15 of the Best Books and Articles on: National Parks

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Capacity for Wonder: Preserving National Parks » Read Now
by William R. Lowry. 282 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The national parks of North America are great public treasures, visited by 300 million people each year. Set aside to be kept in relatively natural condition, these remarkable places of forests, rivers, mountains, and wildlife still inspire our "capacity for wonder". Today, however, the parks are...
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The national parks of North America are great public treasures, visited by 300 million people each year. Set aside to be kept in relatively natural condition, these remarkable places of forests, rivers, mountains, and wildlife still inspire our "capacity for wonder". Today, however, the parks are threatened by increasingly difficult problems from both inside and outside their borders. This book, enriched with personal anecdotes of the author's trips throughout the parks of North America, examines changes in the park services of the United States and Canada over the past fifteen years. William Lowry describes the many challenges facing the parks - such as rising crime, tourism and overcrowding, pollution, eroding funding for environmental research, and the contentious debate over preservation versus use - and the abilities of the agencies to deal with them. The Capacity for Wonder provides a revealing comparison of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and the Canadian Parks Service (CPS). The author explains,that, while the services are similar in many ways, the priorities of these two agencies have changed dramatically in recent years. Lowry shows how increasing conflicts over agency goals and decreasing institutional support have made the NPS vulnerable to interagency disputes, reluctant to take any risks in its operations, and extremely responsive to political pressures. As a result, U.S. national parks are now managed mainly to serve political purposes. Lowry illustrates how in the 1980s politicians pushed the NPS to expand private uses of national parks through development, timber harvesting, grazing, and mining, while environmental groups pushed the NPS in the other direction. Overthe same period, the CPS enjoyed a clarification of goals and increased institutional support. As a result, the CPS has been able to decentralize its structure, empower its employees, and renew its commitment to preservatio
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2.

Romance of the National Parks (1939) » Read Now
by Harlean James. 240 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...ROMANCE OF THE NATIONAL PARKS Photograph -- Department of the Interior...REDWOODS IN YOSEMITE ROMANCE OF THE NATIONAL PARKS BY HARLEAN JAMES EXECUTIVE...YEARS HAS JOINED IN...
3.

National Parks and the Woman's Voice: A History » Read Now
by Polly Welts Kaufman. 312 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This lively study provides a missing chapter in the history of the nations preservation of historic space and wild and scenic landscapes. Now available in paperback, it draws on extensive research, including hundreds of personal interviews. Kaufman presents the untold story of women's contributions...
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This lively study provides a missing chapter in the history of the nations preservation of historic space and wild and scenic landscapes. Now available in paperback, it draws on extensive research, including hundreds of personal interviews. Kaufman presents the untold story of women's contributions to the national parks, making clear for the first time the role of women who have helped shape our national park system. Also included in this edition is information on women's history sites in the national parks.
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4.

Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks » Read Now
by Mark David Spence. 190 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited...
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This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited wilderness. It focuses on specific policies of Indian removal developed at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks from the early 1870s to the 1930s.
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5.

Inhabited Wilderness: Indians, Eskimos, and National Parks in Alaska » Read Now
by Theodore Catton. 290 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

A history of the national parks in Alaska and how they protect the natural ecosystems while allowing certain populations to use the parks to maintain their cultural traditions.
6.

Battling for Manassas: The Fifty-Year Preservation Struggle at Manassas National Battlefield Park » Read Now
by Joan M. Zenzen. 257 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Bruce Ventos subcommittee on national parks during the William Center controversy...Bruce Craig, formerly of the National Parks and Conservation Association...whom taught...
7.

Yosemite: The Embattled Wilderness » Read Now
by Alfred Runte. 276 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...to every serious scholar of the national parks. Her knowledge of her collection...led to my first history of the national parks. In 1985 Resources for the Future...the...
8.

Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903 » Read Now
by Chris J. Magoc. 270 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Examines the American myths and late-Victorian values behind the movement both to preserve the Yellowstone wilderness and to extract its natural resources--codifying the ultimate American landscape.
9.

The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870 » Read Now
by Nathaniel Pitt Langford. 216 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...This Bison Books edition of Nathaniel P. Langford's journal brings back into print one of the principal sources of information on the exploration of the Yellowstone region...
10.

Independence: The Creation of a National Park » Read Now
by Constance M. Greiff. 284 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Service. Many visitors to our national historical parks believe that our public officials...National Park System the national capital parks, which included such...
11.

Valley Forge: Making and Remaking a National Symbol » Read Now
by Lorett Treese. 272 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...1732-1799-- Headquarters--Pennsylvania--Valley Forge. 3. Valley Forge Pa. -- History. 4. Parks--Pennsylvania--Valley Forge-History. 5. Valley Forge National Historical Park...
12.

A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement » Read Now
by Mark W. T. Harvey. 370 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Packard, executive secretary of the National Parks Association. Howard Zahniser...Packard and Sigurd Olson of the National Parks Association, and David Brower...part by a...
13.

Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: A Preliminary Survey of Faunal Relations in National Parks (1933) » Read Now
by George M. Wright, Joseph S. Dixon, Ben H. Thompson. 158 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Director FAUNA OF THE NATIONAL PARKS OF THE UNITED STATES A...SURVEY OF FAUNAL RELATIONS IN NATIONAL PARKS By GEORGE M. WRIGHT, JOSEPH...adapted to faunal investigations in...
14.

A Strategy for Restoring America's National Parks, in Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum » Read Now
by Holly Lippke Fretwell, Michael J. Podolsky. 44 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
15.

Providing Intergenerational Goods: Implementation of National Park System Plans in Canada and the United States, in Policy Studies Journal » Read Now
by William R. Lowry. 19 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library