US National Park Information
How many US national parks are there?
At present there are 58 national parks in the United States and its possessions. There are a total of 391 units, including the national parks, administered by the National Park Service.
Which park is the largest? The smallest?
The largest park, by far, is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in southeastern Alaska. It covers a staggering 13,175,901 acres. The smallest is Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, which covers a mere 5,550 acres.
Which park is the most visited? The least?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee is the most visited, with an official total of 9,372,253 in 2007. The park with the lowest official total is Kobuk Valley National Park in northern Alaska, with a tiny 847 in 2007.
What is the newest national park?
Everyone knows that Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the US, and in fact the world. But, it is lesser known that the newest member of the US national park family is Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. It officially came into being on September 13, 2004.
What is the difference between national parks and national monuments, parkways, seashores, etc?
National parks are generally large natural places having a wide variety of outstanding features, sometimes including historic features. They must be created by an act of Congress, and are strictly regulated to prevent hunting and damage to the features it protects. National monuments are the same in many ways, but may be created by simple Presidential proclamation. Many national parks were national monuments first. A wide variety of other land designations exists in the National Park Service as well. On August 18, 1970, Congress defined the National Park System as, "any area of land and water now or hereafter administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service for park, monument, historic, parkway, recreational or other purposes."
How and when was the National Park Service formed?
The National Park Service was created by an Act signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916. It is an agency of the Department of the Interior. It was created to care for the nation's growing collection of national parklands. Up until its creation, most of the land was overseen by the US Cavalry.
What are national park concessionaires?
Concessionaires provide park visitors with lodging, transportation, food services, shops, and other services. Rather than deal with all of this themselves, the National Park Service contracts these services out to the concessionaires. Most of them are small, local companies. The largest is Xanterra, who provides services in some of the largest and most visited parks in the system.
What is the origin of the National Park Service arrowhead symbol?
The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service symbol on July 20, 1951. The Sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. As with all US government symbols, it is illegal to display this logo outside of official use, but here is a link to the symbol.
What is the National Park Service mission statement?
"...to promote and regulate the use of the...national parks...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." This leads to the direct conflict of preservation and visitation, and the National Park Service struggles to maintain this balance on a constant basis.
Why is the pet policy in most national parks so strict?
Except for a very few exceptions, pets are not allowed off of established roads and facilities. This is to protect both the parks and the pets themselves. Many parks have land and wildlife that can be easily disrupted or destroyed by the tens of thousands of pets that allowing them would bring. In many parks, the pets themselves would be considered prey by park predators, and would put the pets, as well as their owners, in serious danger.
What other rules are common to all national parks?
With very few exceptions, the following rules apply in all national parks. It is safe to assume that if they do NOT apply at a park, it will be made very clear that they don't. It is illegal to approach, harass, harm, or feed any wildlife. Parks are starting to impose severe penalties for violating this rule. No plants, artifacts, or anything else may be removed from a park. All US and state laws apply within national parks, and rangers have full authority to enforce them.
