It was on this date 100 years ago that Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act, which created the park service. The first 1,000 people to arrive received a T-shirt commemorating their participation and were allowed to keep their umbrella.
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Brown says the centennial celebration is a way to remind Americans that the 413 different national park units belong to them.
“We want to be sure that not only are we protecting Yellowstone, but visitors are having a great experience and gain a great knowledge of Yellowstone National Park“, Wenk says.
“I wanted to go to a National Park and had never been out West before”.
As a bonus, the National Park Service is providing all travelers free admission into all 412 national parks, from August 25-28.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, whose department oversees the NPS, was to visit Yellowstone National Park, which comprises parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, later Thursday for the anniversary celebration.
Thomas Moran’s spectacular paintings of a fantasy-like Yellowstone in 1872 created a national frenzy of excitement that helped lead to the creation of the country’s first national park.
Established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday this weekend.
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams has been sharing some incredible photos and videos of our national parks – taken from space.
The entire peninsula became a national park in 1974 when the fort, which was known as Sandy Hook Proving Ground and later Fort Hancock, was deactivated and the state park reverted to the federal government. Learning about the Ancestral Puebloans and how hard they worked in their daily lives puts perspective on life in the present day, she said.
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Beginning at 7 p.m., a series of short films about the history of the National Park Service will be shown at Arches visitor center, with birthday cake served after the movies. Some visitors didn’t even realize one of the free spots is on Fisherman’s Wharf, the Maritime National Historical Park.
