Skip to main content
Visitors check the view at Grand Teton National Park

Someone once said that “the National Parks are the greatest idea America ever had. Absolutely American. Absolutely democratic. They reflect us at our best.” 

Welcome to “This Land Is Your Land,” a blog where you go behind the scenes of our finest natural, cultural, and recreational resources, but, more importantly, discover today’s critical challenges facing the 433 areas of our National Park System. Over 331 million people visit our parks each year.  But while it’s “your land” now the big question is – will it still be there for your kids?    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Parks, Our Pride, Our Value

The rugged coast of Acadia (Photos by Mark) When people think of a large national park, many envision those in the western U.S. But there is one of the “jewels in the crown” along the wave-pounding Atlantic coastline of Maine – Acadia National Park.  This icon boasts a rugged coast, forests of color, interior wetlands, mountaintop views, and historic carriageways. So much natural and cultural value that this park draws 3.5 million visits a year . Like other national park areas, Acadia is not just land – it is legacy. National park areas unite us and remind us of what’s worth saving. I n the early 1900s, billionaire philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and his family purchased - then donated – 11,000 acres along with 51 miles of carriage roads he financed and constructed, to be incorporated for this new park for America. Rockefeller wasn’t looking at Acadia Island for land values, profit margins or self-financial gains; for this cause, he was just a believer in the value of conservati...
Post a Comment
Read more

To Know the Institutional Knowledge - Part I

Mark at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, SD (Photos by Mark) The images I posted here are some of the places I lived and worked, and flourished (Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and Big Bend National Park).  Did you know that the NPS has traditionally had the highest public approval rating (in the 70% - 80% favorable column) of any federal agency for decades? Even today, in this time of social challenges, America’s national park areas remain number one. But do most people really “understand” the National Park System/and Service – the history, the purpose, the values?  Authors have written many chapters about the beginnings of the NPS. One chapter shows that it wasn’t created overnight. Instead, the script for the Bill to create a “Park Service” (in 1916) was a result of several years of discussion, debate, and lobbying by 16 individuals meeting off-and-on in the DC apartmen...
Post a Comment
Read more