Our National Parks 

Our National Parks play a huge part in conservation in our country, and not just for the reasons you may expect. Yellowstone was the first National Park, and was created in 1872, and ever since then we have been designating land to be protected as National Parks. Millions of people a year from all over the country and the world come to these parks annually, and it is a great way to showcase the beauty of nature.

Our National Parks can inspire people to have interest in conservation, which can lead to many things. People could donate money, donate their time, start to take interest in a specific cause, or even start a career in conservation. When I spent time in Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Badlands National Parks, just the majesty of the landscape was enough to make me want to live there the rest of my life. That is the impact these parks can have on people, and another reason why we need to continue to protect these special lands.

The more obvious reason to continue to maintain these National Parks is the amount of money they bring in, which then can be used to fund more and more recovery/conservation programs. It is a way to make money that doesn't involve us changing the landscapes or giving the rights to hunt the animals, which makes it a sanctuary for key species. Out west these national parks give rare protection to all sorts of animals that are hunted off park grounds, and gives them a place to stabilize their numbers.

National Parks are always under pressure to allow hunting or allow other activities that could compromise the integrity of the ecosystems, which could then change what these National Parks mean to us. We need to continue to protect these lands, so we will always have these wild spaces to be able to find ourselves.