“Today across the country all, as of yesterday, 413 national parks are celebrating in their own unique way”, said Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Chief, Enimini Ekong.
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Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says all Americans deserve the chance to experience the national parks. “So the National Park Service in its next century must welcome all visitors, all Americans and foreign visitors as well to these incredible public lands”.
The National Park Service has completed its first 100 years of service, but for Mesa Verde Superintendent Cliff Spencer, the work is far from over. The first 1,000 participants were allowed to keep their umbrellas and got T-shirts commemorating the event.
At a ceremony celebrating the National Park Service Centennial on Thursday morning, Spencer encouraged spectators to continue sharing the parks with others.
“History and Preservation of Richmond’s National Parks”, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how the park sites are preserved, managed and interpreted. President Obama marked the occasion this week with the creation of a new national monument in Maine’s North Woods.
She’s also attending the 100th anniversary celebration and concert featuring Emmylou Harris and John Prine at the Roosevelt Arch in Yellowstone National Park during her visit.
At Sandy Hook and numerous park service’s other facilities across the country, visitors won’t have to pay entrance fees Thursday through Sunday to commemorate the National Park Service’s 100 anniversary.
Ranger Mariah Leeseberg leads a talk on salmon for park visitors.
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All of them are free through Sunday, August 28th, in celebration of the Centennial, so get out and “park it” somewhere. Other free admission days are planned throughout the year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the park system, as well as additional special programming. But nature lovers prevailed and today it is the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
