Essay - National Park Service Since 1916, More than 370 Parks of...

National Park Service

***** 1916, more than 370 parks of great natural beauty and grandeur from Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to the Hawaiian Islands have been managed and preserved by the National Park Service (NPS) which is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. Such great his*****ric and natural treasures as the Gr***** Canyon and Yellowstone; are now parks that preserve ***** pristine animal habitats or echo the nation's history, such as ***** Gettysburg Battlefield or preserve such notable landscapes as Mesa Verde and parks along seash*****es, lakeshores, and river-ways. They also provide opportunities for outdoor activities, such as at Ass*****eague Island and Lake Mead. (National Park Service

2006)

***** of people visit our national park areas yearly. The NPS has been in charge of preserving ***** resources since its creation in 1916. In the 20th century, it became a superior vis*****or services ********** while practicing a combination of active management and passive acceptance of natural systems ***** processes.

Now this sort of management style has become insufficient to save the natural resources. Parks are becoming increasingly crowded reminders of past ages in a tortured landscape, with incompatible uses of resources, pollution coming ***** inside and outside the parks, and invasions of non-native plant, insect ***** ***** species (***** Park Service 2006 2). In addition, politics have shed an unwelcome light on certain groups as ********** have become interested in tapping the resources within the Nati*****al *****s and the present ***** is seen as insufficient and contradictory.

Structure

The ***** is made up of five different subdivisions:

The

Air Resources Division pays attention to the current air quality conditions in parks, air ***** trends ***** national parks, *****, through ARIS, the ozone health ad*****ies.

The

American Indian Liaison Office was created to improve relationships between American Indian Tribes, Alaska Natives, Native *****s and the National Park Service through consultation, outreach, technical assistance, education, and advisory services.

The

Geological Resources Division, includes Mining Operations Management, Minerals Management, Mining, ***** Oil and Gas.

The

National Park Service Division (NatureNet) is ***** educational division for students and teachers learning about protecting ***** restoring ecosystems of *****, biology, geology, sounds, and water. It ***** is over Science and Research, Social Science, ***** the Natural Resource Challenge. The Natural Resource Challenge re*****s a major effort to address the challenges ***** caring for our country's ***** heritage within the complexities of today's modern *****.

The Water Resources ***** distributes water information and data; it has a section on M*****rine C*****servation, Water Resources, and deals with the Wetlands in ***** National Parks.

*****

The "***** Park" idea of keeping intact a large-scale natural preservation has ***** credited to the artist George Catlin. While visiting the Dakotas in 1832, he realized t***** effec*****s ***** America's westward expansion would have on the ***** Indian civilizati*****, wildlife, and wilderness. They would be better *****, he suggested, "by some great protect*****g policy of government...in a magnificent park.... A nation's *****, containing man ***** beast, in