by Herminne Tonita -

For hundreds of years land, water, trees and wild life were so plentiful in America that people thought they would never run out. It became a habit with Americans to use natural resources carelessly and wastefully.

As settlers spread across America, all of them- farmers, miners, ranchers- robbed the land and destroyed its resources. Trees were felled in millions. Rivers and lakes were choked by waste from mines and factories. Vast buffalo herds were almost entirely destroyed, as were many other wild animals, including wolves, sea otters and fur seals.

Naturalists were alarmed by this destruction. They demanded that the government and people of the United States should conserve the nation's natural heritage. One of the leaders of these "conservationists" was Jo hn Muir. He, who had been born in Scotland, traveled about the American West studying and describing its natural wonders. He worked hard to persuade people to protect these wonders for the benefit of future generations.

Largely because of Muir's efforts, big areas of unspoiled land were made into public parks. One of these was Yosemite Park in California. The heart of Yosemite is a beautiful valley surrounded by cliffs and mountain peaks. Giant Sequoia trees and other rare plants grow there. In 1890 Yosemite became a national park- that is, a park belonging to the whole nation.

Yosemite was not the United States' first national park. That was Yellowstone Park. This is about 3,458 square-mile area of volcanic rocks and forest in the Rocky Mountains and it became a national park in 1872.

Yellowstone is one of the world's largest wildlife sanctuaries. Bears, mountain sheep, buffalo, moose and more than two hundred kinds of birds make their homes there. Its most famous sight, however, is "Old Faithful". This is a volcanic geyser which every hour shoots approximately 10,000 gallons of water almost 165 feet into the air.

When Theodore Roosevelt became President of the USA in 1901 he set up more big national parks and forests. In 1916 Congress established the National Parks Service to look after them. The American system of national parks became one of the most admired in the world. It has been taken as an example by many countries.
The National Parks in the USA written by Herminne Tonita for FamousWhy.com
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Tags: national parks, usa, water, trees, wild life, habit, natural, naturalists

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Category: Travel  - ( Travel Archive)

Date Added: 30 May '07

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