NEW YORK — The establishment and enjoyment of the nation's national parks has become an American pastime a century and a half after Wyoming's famed Yellowstone National Park was formed.
But the survival of the parks -- and the landscapes and ecosystems they house -- is precarious as global warming continues and visitors infringe upon the natural settings.
A national and global movement has taken place in the 150 years since Yellowstone was founded in 1872. There are now 423 national parks in the U.S. -- with at least one in every state -- and hundreds of countries have established national park systems themselves, often using the NPS as an example and sending representatives to the U.S. to learn how to develop and maintain them, Kupper said.
The 85 million acres in total of national parks are increasingly subject to the environmental and human impacts that threaten the health of wildlife and their habitats, according to the National Park Foundation. They are also becoming more crucial to understanding the environmental effects as a result of factors such as human encroachment and global warming.
In addition, the parks serve as teaching tools for one another. Sister parks, such as multiple national parks in Hawaii that contain volcanoes, will often partner to learn from each other and help each other in aspects of protection and conservation, Kupper said. For decades, Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones had resisted efforts from developers in South Florida offering him millions of dollars to turn his family's land into a vacationer's paradise. Finally, in 1970, Lancelot and his sister-in-law sold their share of more than 277 acres that would become the Biscayne Bay National Park to the National Park Service for $1.2 million.
While the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion and Acadia tend to be the bucket list destinations for many national park enthusiasts, the NPS encourages visitors to consider activities in other regions, such as hiking for six months on the Appalachian Trail, exploring a boardwalk trail to see alligators up close in the Everglades or researching the best places to enjoy some activities like having a picnic, reading a book or go rock climbing or whitewater rafting.
The benefits to spending time outdoors amid the demands of the modern world is no surprise, Kupper said, adding,"Nature is therapy."
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