National Parks have a long and important history. It started with Yellowstone National Park in 1872 and has been ongoing ever since. The most recent was New River Gorge National Park, established in 2020 in West Virginia.
All of them function as protection for biodiversity, acting as a home and safe space for many threatened and endangered species. They maintain healthy ecosystems clean water and air. Parks also offer opportunities for more outdoor activities such as hiking and climbing, support economic growth due to more job openings and tourists, and offer places to learn more about nature and some historic events while also informing the public about the importance of conservation.
Across the U.S., the term “national park” refers to federally protected lands designated by Congress and managed by the National Park Service. There are approximately 6,555 national parks worldwide and more than 202,000 legally designated protected areas—including Canada’s Banff National Park, Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest, as well as Chile’s Patagonia National Parks Network: 10 million acres of ancient forests, incredible plants and animals, and clear waters that spread all across the land.
Some disregard national parks as just another place that the government’s money is going towards, but it is incredibly important to our climate, economy, and ecosystems that we keep our national parks safe and unharmed.
