"United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The 64th United States Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act, which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on 25 August 1916. Of the sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 60 carry the designation of National Park. Following the idea established in Yellowstone, there soon followed parks in other nations. In Australia, the Royal National Park was established just south of Sydney on 26 April 1879, becoming the world's second official national park (actually the 3rd:"
"In 2013, the U.S. had more than 6770 national parks or protected areas, all together more than 1,006,619 sq. miles (2,607,131 km). The first national park was Yellowstone National Park in the state of Wyoming, established in 1872. Yellowstone National Park is widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitat in the U.S. There are 67 species of mammals in the park, including the gray wolf, the threatened lynx, and the grizzly bear. The ecoregions and ecology found in the Western United States are extremely varied. For instance, large areas of land are made up of everything from sand"
"Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular features. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of"
"History of the National Park Service Since 1872 the United States National Park System has grown from a single, public reservation called Yellowstone National Park to embrace over 450 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural areas throughout the United States, its territories, and island possessions. These areas include a diverse varieties of areas —National Parks, National Monuments, National Memorials, National Military Parks, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, National Scenic Riverways, National Scenic Trails, and others. The national park idea has been credited to the artist George Catlin. In 1832 he traveled the northern Great Plains of"
"this argument but eventually pleaded guilty, with the plea deal including his specific agreement not to raise the issue in his appeal. Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of"
"Everglades National Park Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States, and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River. An average of one million people visit the park each year. Everglades is the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States after Death Valley and Yellowstone. UNESCO declared the Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve in 1976, and listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979, while the Ramsar Convention included"
"state parks. The NASPD further counts over of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks, with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond ""state park"" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, and state nature reserves. Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, established in 1885. However"
"Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF) is the principal U.S. National Forest in the U.S. state of Nevada, and has a smaller portion in Eastern California. With an area of , it is the largest National Forest of the United States outside Alaska. HTNF does not resemble most other National Forests in that it has numerous fairly large but non-contiguous sections scattered about most of the state of Nevada and a portion of eastern California. Its 10 ranger districts are scattered across the many mountain ranges in Nevada, from the Santa Rosa Range in the north to the"
"Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park located in a region of the Appalachian Mountains referred to as the Great Smoky Mountains, in a portion of east-central Tennessee and southwest North Carolina. With over 150 hiking trails extending for more than , within its boundaries, including a seventy-mile segment of the Appalachian Trail, hiking is the most popular activity in the national park . As plans to create a national park in the eastern United States began to unfold in the 1920s, specifically in the area of"
"Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park (, ) is an American national park located in the western Sierra Nevada of Central California, bounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of and sits in four counties: centered in Tuolumne and Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono and south to Madera County. Designated a World Heritage site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological"
"thirteen states – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. It was created on October 1, 1995 by the consolidation of the North Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic Regions. Previously a Northeast Region existed (1962–1974) which ceased to exist when the Midwest Region, North Atlantic, and Mid-Atlantic regions were created. North Atlantic Region The North Atlantic Region consisted of 43 parks in eight states – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. It was established on November 30, 1973 with its headquarters in Boston,"
"Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is at U.S. 441 on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, from which it travels north"
"maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks. In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. , there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 739 million annual visits to the country's"
"has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Niagara Falls State Park, established in 1885, is the oldest state park in the United States and the first to be created via eminent domain. In 1892, Adirondack Park, roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established and given state constitutional protection to remain ""forever wild"" in 1894. The park is larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon national parks combined. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Olympic National Parks combined. The Catskill Park"
"the land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. The park is north to south, and west to east by air. Yellowstone is in area, larger than the states of Rhode Island or Delaware. Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at . Yellowstone Lake is up to deep and has of shoreline. At an elevation of above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high altitude lake in North America."
"Redwood National and State Parks The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of several state and national parks located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968) and California's Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks (dating from the 1920s), the combined RNSP contain , and feature old-growth temperate rainforests. Located entirely within Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, the four parks, together, protect 45% of all remaining coast redwood (""Sequoia sempervirens"") old-growth forests, totaling at least . These trees are the tallest and one of"
"America's State Parks America's State Parks is a strategic alliance formed in 2010 of all 50 state park systems, the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). America's State Parks is committed to giving a unified voice to all of the country's state park systems in Washington and national politics. America's State Parks ensures that the national and natural treasures are protected and that the voice from each state park visitor is heard. As the founder of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, has said, ""Who will gainsay that the parks contain the highest potentialities of national pride, national contentment,"
"significant milestone while simultaneously providing incredible support to these cherished places."" The bill passed in the House in April 2014 and was referred to the United States Senate. Similar legislation () was also introduced into the United States Senate. National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the United States' National Park Service and its 417 national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 to ""further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientific, educational, inspirational, or recreational resources for future generations of Americans."" The NPF raises private funds for the benefit of,"
"Pike National Forest The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, United States, west of Colorado Springs including Pikes Peak . The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km²) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte and Fountain Creek. Rampart Reservoir, a large artificial body of water, is located within the forest. The forest is named after American explorer Zebulon Pike. Much of the bedrock within Pike National Forest is made up of the coarse, pink to orange Pikes Peak granite. Pike National"
"Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the United States with over 11.3 million recreational visitors in 2016. The Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from Maine to"
"not true ""National Parks"" in the strictest sense. There are 417 units managed by the National Park service (including those 15 in Georgia listed above,) of which 59 are officially designated National Parks as of 2018, none of which are in Georgia. The U.S. Forest Service oversees the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in northern Georgia. The forest is actually two U.S. National Forests combined, the Oconee National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest. The area of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest is 865,855 acres (3,504 km²), of which the Chattahoochee National Forest comprises 750,502 acres (3,037 km²) and the Oconee National Forest comprises"
"Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and Rhode Island. Some state and tribal governments also designate wilderness areas under their own authority and local laws. These are not federal areas, and the exact nature of protection may differ from federal laws. Most U.S. wilderness areas are in National Forests, but the largest amount of wilderness land is administered by the National Park Service. The largest contiguous wilderness complex in the United States is the Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wildernesses in Alaska at . The largest wilderness area outside Alaska is the Death Valley Wilderness in southeastern California. The smallest area protected"
"any mountain chain in the Rockies. Bighorn National Forest The Bighorn National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northern Wyoming, United States and consists of over 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²). Created as a US Forest Reserve in 1897, it is one of the oldest government-protected forest lands in the U.S. The forest is well east of the continental divide and extends from the Montana border for a distance of 80 miles (130 km) along the spine of the Big Horn Mountains, an outlying mountain range separated from the rest of the Rocky Mountains by Bighorn Basin. Elevations"
"Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is an American national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west side temperate rainforest and the forests of the drier east side. Within the park there are three distinct ecosystems which are subalpine forest and wildflower meadow, temperate forest, and the rugged Pacific coast. President Theodore Roosevelt originally designated Mount Olympus National Monument on 2 March 1909. The monument was redesignated as a national park by Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt on June 29, 1938. In 1976, Olympic"
"and structure exposed at the surface, but differing rates of erosion along with changing climates can also have impacts on the land. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1872, the world's first national park was established at Yellowstone. Another fifty-seven national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks and forests have since been formed. Wilderness areas have been established around the country to ensure long-term protection of pristine habitats. Altogether, the U.S. government regulates 1,020,779 square miles (2,643,807 km), 28.8%"
"Wood-Tikchik State Park Wood-Tikchik State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Alaska north of Dillingham. Over (6,500 km) in area—about the size of the state of Delaware—it is the largest and most remote state park in the United States, comprising more than half of all state park land in Alaska and 15% of the total state park land in the country. Despite being the largest state park in the nation, the park had no staff whatsover for its first five years, and even now at times only a single ranger is in charge of patrolling the"
"parks, six national parks or protected regions, two national protected forests or grasslands, and a network of wildlife preserves and conservation areas. Six percent of the state's 10 million acres (40,000 km) of forest is public land, including the western portions of the Ouachita National Forest, the largest and oldest national forest in the Southern United States. With , the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in north-central Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie in the world and is part of an ecosystem that encompasses only 10 percent of its former land area, once covering 14 states. In addition, the"
"falls under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has been compiling and disseminating information about invasive species since 1994. Control of invasive species costs $500 million per year, but of land in South Florida remains infested. Everglades National Park Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States, and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River. An average of one million people visit the park each year. Everglades is the"
"National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the United States' National Park Service and its 417 national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 to ""further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientific, educational, inspirational, or recreational resources for future generations of Americans."" The NPF raises private funds for the benefit of, or in connection with, the activities and services of the National Park Service. Working on its own and with partners, the National Park Foundation funds grants and programs that demonstrate need across the National Park System in the areas"
"of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the National Park Service Director, who must be confirmed by the Senate. In 2008, there were 21,989 employees of the NPS who oversaw units, of which 59 are designated national parks. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress. The first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. Criteria for the selection of National Parks include natural beauty, unique"
"National Park is on U.S. Route 160, approximately east of the community of Cortez and west of Mancos, Colorado. The park covers It contains 4,372 documented sites, including more than 600 cliff dwellings. It is the largest archaeological preserve in the US. It protects some of the most important and best-preserved archaeological sites in the country. The park initiated the Archaeological Site Conservation Program in 1995. It analyses data pertaining to how sites are constructed and utilized. The Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center is located just off of Highway 160 and is before the park entrance booths. The Visitor"
"Appalachian Trail by state The Appalachian National Scenic Trail spans fourteen U.S. states during its roughly -long journey: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. It begins at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains, crossing many of its highest peaks and running with only a few exceptions almost continuously through wilderness before ending at Mount Katahdin, Maine. The trail is currently protected along more than 99% of its course by federal or state land ownership or right-of-way. Annually, more than 4,000 volunteers"
"class 2 or ""average dark sky"" sites. Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California—Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park occupies an interface zone between the arid Great Basin and Mojave deserts, protecting the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and its diverse environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains. Death Valley is the largest national park in the lower 48 states, and the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is"