Public Lands National Parks Created by National Park
Public Lands
National Parks § Created by National Park Act of 1916 -managed by Dept of the Interior § 1862: Yellowstone established as 1 st national park § “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects in them. ” § 388 designated areas (2003); 84 million acres § Set aside for human enjoyment and recreation-protected from most development
Wilderness Areas § Federal lands designated by Congress § Wilderness Act of 1964: “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. ” § Prohibit road building, logging, hunting, fishing, mineral and oil exploration
Natural Reserves and Refuges § Preserve and protect certain animals and plants, or both. § They are provided exclusively to protect species for their own sake.
National Forests § 191 million acres--mainly western states, but also Blue Ridge mountains § National Grasslands--Great Plains (fall under this category) § Gifford Pinchot: 1 st head of Forest Service § Uses: timber production, watershed land, wildlife preservation, livestock grazing, mining, and recreation.
Statistics Handout § What trends do you see in the size of the US Population? What trends do you see in the number of visits to national parks? § What circumstances might explain changes in the number of visits to national parks since 1950? § What do you predict will happen to the US population in the future? How will that affect visits to national parks?
Statistics (con’t) § What changes do you think were made to parks to accommodate the increasing numbers of park visitors? What problems, if any, might the increasing numbers of visitors have caused? § If the number of park visitors was restricted, could continued population growth still cause problems in the parks? Why or why not?
Problems in Paradise § What problems have been caused by an increase of visitors to national parks? § What other problems do national parks face? § Do any of the same problems affect local or community parks? § What solutions would you recommend to combat these problems?
Problems (con’t) § What problems might your recommendations solve? What problems might they create? § What can be done when the best action to protect resources inside a park would have a negative effect on communities outside the park?
- Slides: 9