National Parks: Founding and Dismantling

In this post I want to talk about how our government founded the National Park system and how today our leaders are looking at ways to cut funding and shut down some of these parks or even privatize them to allow companies to destroy more of our ecosystems.

Above you can see one of our oldest and most recognized national parks, Yellowstone National Park, founded March 1, 1872. The park was created for pleasure grounding and the benefit of the people. As time went on the United States added more National Parks and monument sites in parts of the Western states. In August of 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act creating the National Park Service. This act protected the lands established over the years. This would preserve the scenery within the lands of the park and allow for entire ecosystems to be able to thrive without threat of human interaction. Since 1872 over 400 areas in 50 states covering 84 million acres of land have been added to the National Park Service. More information on how the parks were founded and set up can be found here on the National Park services website: https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/history.htm

So now you have a bit of an idea how the National Park Service was enacted. But what exactly does this do for our wildlife you may ask? I mean it is the whole point of this blog post right? Well, glad you are asking! Pictured above is the Denali Wolf, which can be found in Alaska. The Wolf roams the area of Denali National Park and can sometimes be found outside the area of the park. Under the National Park Service the wolf has been protected and has thrived in the region. However, recently the Alaska board has denied safe zones for the wolves within the region they populate in Denali Park. This will allow people to hunt, trap and even kill the Denali wolf who hunts in the area for Caribou during the winter and spring months. Without this protection, this already endangered species will be most likely hunted to extinction. Before 45% of visitors would be able to spot the Denali Wolf roaming the country side in 2010. However, in 2016 this has plummeted to only 5% of visitors being able to see the wolf. Many visitors are disappointed to see the plummet in the population of the wolf. Tourists come from all over the world to see the magnificent wolf first hand. This adds plenty of revenue into the park which helps the economy of Alaska. Without the wolf expect plummets in visitors and profit. For more information of Denali National Park and the Denali Wolf please visit: https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/nature/wolves.htm

Pictured above is the American Bison which until recently was an endangered species. About 500,000 exist on private lands and 30,000 on public lands protected by government reserves and agencies. Without the reserves and protections the Bison would not exist today. Hunting the Bison was brought on by the Native Americans who lived on the lands and later adopted by American professional hunters. Almost hunted to extinction by 1890 it has since began to recover thanks to government intervention and private organizations. There isn't much more I wanted to say about the Bison it's primarily a food source for many predators that inhabit the areas of the Midwest. Without the Bison, the ecosystem of the American Midwest would suffer terribly. Information on the Bison can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#Hunting

I'll say this right now as in my next few blog posts I may target them more. The GOP is not a party I find myself in agreement with often. Their rash, uninformed and often stupid ideas have cost Americans dearly over the years. But one thing recently has really irked me. GOP senators and government officials have started a movement to privatize the NPS. What this would do would hand over control of parks around the country to the state. Many states have substantially cut funding to parks all over the country. Without federal funding from the government many of the parks you see today could be shut down. The NPS would then have to go elsewhere for funding, private corporations and other avenues, to get sufficient funding to keep the parks running. Corporations could then either decide to build on the land or even destroy them entirely to fit their own agendas. All the while our wildlife and ecosystems suffer the most. We cannot allow these people to do as they will and destroy our planet! We must make a stand for what is right for us and for our world around us! Check out this article if you want to learn more about what is happening in our government today: https://newrepublic.com/article/136307/dont-privatize-national-parks

Also sign the petition: https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-the-petition-stop-national-parks-from-privatization

Contact your local government officials for a list of your government officials go to: nj.gov and find your local politician.