Parks, Monuments and Forests Endangered

One of the best ideas this country did was the creation our system of national monuments, parks, and forests, this model was used in the creation of our state parks. Historically, parks and forests were the domain of the very rich, influential, and the powerful where they could hunt and relax. Here in the United States that was the mindset that prevailed until the mid-1860s. With the discovery in the early 1800’s by who were called mountain men, they described boiling hot mud, steam being emitted out of the ground and water being ejected out of the ground. At first this was dismissed as nonsense and was dubbed by the media as “Colter’s Hell” (Burns). That is, until a prestige’s expedition brought back detailed descriptions of hot springs, the boiling mud, and of course the geysers. After this time, a sense was gaining momentum that we, as a nation, should preserve such wonders, not only for the rich and powerful, but for all citizens to enjoy. Our parks were becoming the last refuge of animals that otherwise would have disappeared forever (Burns). Our national park system began with the creation of the first national park at Yellowstone, and today they continue to evolve and be debated of who should control our national parks, what should be contained within their boundaries and even if they should exist at all (Burns). The push for the creation of a “Nations Park” came mainly due to the near ruin of Niagara with landowners owning every vista that overlooked the falls charging a fee; commercialization gone wild and what eventually became a national embarrassment (Burns). While Yellowstone is officially the first national park, the whole national park began with Yosemite Valley with a bill introduced in 1864 to give the state of ...

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