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This article is about national parks. For the article about the town of National Park, see National Park, New Jersey.
National parks are reserves of land, usually owned by national governments, that are protected from most human development and pollution.
The idea of a national park was first formulated by painter George
Catlin. In his travels though the American West, he became concerned about the future of the Native Americans he met and the natural wonders he saw. In 1832
he wrote that they might be preserved,
- ...by some great protecting policy of government... in a magnificent park.... A nation's park, containing man and beast, in
all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!
The first effort by any government to set aside such lands was in the United States, when President Abraham Lincoln
signed an Act of Congress on June 30,
1864 ceding Yosemite Valley and
the Mariposa Grove of Giant
Sequoias (heart of the future Yosemite National Park)
to the state of California:
- . . . the said State shall accept this grant upon the express conditions that the premises shall he held for public use,
resort, and recreation; shall be inalienable for all time . . .
However, the vision of the National Park was not yet complete for Yosemite, and required the efforts of John Muir to bring it to fruition.
In 1871, Yellowstone National Park was established as the world's first truly national park. Following the
idea established in Yellowstone, Yosemite was created as a national park in 1890, and
followed soon after by other parks in many other nations. In Canada, Banff National Park (then known as Rocky Mountain National Park)
became its first national park in 1885. New Zealand had its first national
part in 1887. In Europe the first national park
was established in 1910 in Sweden. Particularly
after World War II national parks were founded all over the world.
National parks are usually located in places which have been largely undeveloped, and often feature areas with exceptional
native animals, plants and ecosystems (particularly endangered examples of such),
biodiversity, or unusual geological features. Occasionally, national parks
are declared in developed areas with the goal of returning the area to resemble its original state as closely as possible. In
some countries, the designation of an area as a national park does not entail national ownership of the land, but simply enforces
conservation through planning regulations.
Most national parks have a dual role in offering a refuge for wildlife and as popular tourist areas. Managing the potential
for conflict between these two roles can be difficult, particularly as tourists often generate revenue for the parks which can be
spent on conservation projects. Occasionally mineral resources are discovered in
national parks - if attempts are made to exploit such resources it usually leads to considerable conflict with environmentalists who believe that no such activities should be conducted
within these parks.
National parks have been subject to illegal logging and political corruption. This threatens the integrity of many valuable
habitats. As the natural resources become more scarce with a resulting increase in their value more pressure is applied to
the "protected" area.
Some countries also designate sites of special cultural, scientific or historical importance as national parks, or as special
entities within their national park systems. Other countries use a different scheme for historical site preservation. Some of
this sites are awared the title World Heritage Site by the
UNESCO. In many countries, local government bodies may also maintain park systems.
See also: List of national parks, National Forest
External links
International
Australia
Canada
United Kingdom
US National Parks Service
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