Happy Birthday National Park Service!

Posted by Carolyn Martin on August 24th, 2018 Posted in: Health Observances
Tags: exercise, health

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On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Act and thus created the National Park Service. The parks system includes over 400 areas which includes national parks, monuments, military parks, battlefields, historical parks, historical sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and even the White House. Every year, millions of people visit the these areas and last year’s top 10 most visited national parks included 2 in the PNR region: Olympic National Park and Glacier National Park. 

Both these and other designated areas that are part of the National Park Service, which strives to preserve the beauty and wonder of our beautiful country so we and others may continue to experience the wonder of nature whether the landscapes or the wildlife. Many who visit come away with a greater appreciation of the need to protect the environment and awed by the breathtaking views.

Taking a hike through the natural areas is both healthy physically and mentally. But visiting these park systems can also include history lessons such as the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park which has a unit in both Skagway, AK and Seattle, WA.

Every year the librarians in Kalispel, MT area take a hike through Glacier National Park. This year, they offered an invitation to attendees of the Pacific Northwest Library Association conference. They graciously offered to plan a gentler hike to allow those less experienced hikers to tag along. The Avalanche Lake Trail provided amazing views along the way and at the trail’s end, sparkling Avalanche Lake. It was a great opportunity to become better acquainted with colleagues scattered in the region while getting outdoors. For many, it was a first time visit to Glacier.

Happy Birthday NPS! We hope you can continue to do what you were initially established to do…

“The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”