From monuments to parks, Thursday, is the National Parks Service’s 100th birthday.
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The park service’s newest national monument, Katahdin Woods and Waters in ME, was being readied to welcome its first visitors since President Barack Obama used his executive authority to create it on Wednesday. The first 1,000 people to arrive received a T-shirt commemorating their participation and were allowed to keep their umbrella.
Today marks 100 years since the creation of the National Park Service.
2016 marks the centennial of the National Park Service, the mission of which is to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations”.
The usual $20 entrance fee will be waived for cars entering the otherworldly Joshua Tree National Park in Indio through Sunday.
“Over the years national parks have served as road trip, field trip, picnic, and recreation destinations”. There now is no fee.
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.
The National Park Service turned 100 years old Thursday, a milestone being celebrated everywhere from Independence Hall to Mount Rainier.
Will you visit a national park in the USA this year?
Find Your Park is about more than just national parks!
Michael L. Connor, deputy secretary of the Interior, will speak. Jewell also plans to talk with park officials, scientists and others about how climate change is affecting the park and its disappearing glaciers.
The National Park Service oversees more than 400 parks, historic sites, monuments and other areas.
She also attended the celebration in Yellowstone. That includes free admission this weekend.
Today, the NPS has a total of 412 national parks around the country that they protect on a daily basis.
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The park said in a statement that the canal boat rides at the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center in Potomac are free on Thursday.
