National Parks or National Problems? Essay -- Critical Thinking Essays

A bear meanders across the road several hundred yards in front of your slowly moving vehicle. A doe and her fawn leap back into the brush as you approach. The sun shines in such(prenominal) a trend that it seems the mountains above you go on forever. This pristine image of our nations national position is unfortunately getting harder to find today. The approximately 270 million visitors to the parks annually need begun to take their toll on the wild and preserved areas of our nation.Congress created the worlds first national park, Yellowst angiotensin-converting enzyme, in 1872. For many years after the beginning of Yellowstone (and other such parks), the wilderness could be viewed from afar, but not entered. Camping within park limits was something that was just not done by visitors (National greens Service, Caring for Legacy, 1). The national parks were much less accessible to the public sector in the early 1900s than they presently are. A staggering 68% of Americans have visit ed at least one area of the National cat valium System today, and all these visits have undoubtedly led to the gradual degradation of our parks (Rettie, 124).Our National Park Service, or the NPS, is the authorization responsible for the upkeep and management of the national parks (Rettie, ix). The service was created in 1916 (National Park Service, When Did the NPS, 1). The early parks, including Yellowstone, didnt have a central g overning body for over forty years. This meant that the first parks had to struggle to stay alive and running. In addition, many fell into ruin due to lack of public support or due to the fact that some Americans didnt even know that these parks existed. People also werent sure how to handle themselves within park boundaries, which is still a problem today. Several of the ... ... American Press, 1990.Keiter, Robert B., and Mark S. Boyce, eds. The Greater Yellowstone System. London Yale University Press, 1991.Leal, Donald R., and Holly Lippke Fretwell . Users Must Pay to Save Our National Parks. Consumers Research Magazine, August 1997. First Search. Online. 12 Oct. 1998.National Park Service. Caring for the American Legacy. http//www.nps.gov/legacy/mission.html. (24 Nov. 1998).National Park Service. Fire in the National Parks. http//www.nps.gov/pub_aff/issues/fire.html. (15 Nov. 1998).National Park Service. National Park Resources in Peril. http//www.nps.gov/pub_aff/issues/paril_p_.html. (20 Nov. 1998).National Park Service. When Did the NPS Begin? http//www.nps.gov/legacy/legacy.html. (20 Nov. 1998).Rettie, Dwight F. Our National Park System. Urbana and Chicago University Of Illinois Press, 1995.