The National Parks: Gifted Treasures
By Brian Nixon, Special to ASSIST News Service
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO (ANS May 22, 2016)
-- Here in the United States there’s a lot of chatter concerning the
National Parks. And for good reason: some consider the National Park
system “America’s best idea.” Of course this quote is debatable: the US
has made amazing contributions to the world -- politically (the
Constitution), scientifically (tech, industry, etc.) and in the arts
(literature, jazz, rock and roll, film, abstraction, Pop, etc.). But
there is something to be said for Pulitzer Prize winning, Wallace
Stegner’s, quote: the National Parks were a great idea, and one of the
most enduring.
If you are familiar with Ken Burns’ documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,
you have a general understanding of the history the National Parks. If
not, I encourage you to look it up [1]. You’ll find that the list of
contributors reads like a whose-who of American political personae,
including names such as Abraham Lincoln (who signed initial bill
recognizing Yosemite, beginning the push for the National Parks),
Theodore Roosevelt (who signed the Antiquities Act in 1906, giving the
government the power to safeguard land unique to America), and Richard
Nixon (who expanded the National Parks to include specific urban areas).
And
when you add writers such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo
Leopold to the mix, the list of individuals that helped shape (or
rather, preserve) the geo-landscape of the United States reads like a
great novel; one that should be read over and over.
2016
marks the 100th anniversary -- the Centennial -- of the National Parks.
To help commemorate, the National Parks created the Centennial
Initiative, which reads in part, “In celebration of the 100th
anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, America invites the
world to discover the meaning of national parks to their lives and
inspires people to both experience and become devoted to these special
places.” Yes, the US is inviting “the world” to witness the wonder of
our parks; we’re that proud of them, as we should be.
Included in our celebration are free days. The remaining free days are [2]:
August 25-28: National Park Service Birthday Weekend
September 24: National Public Lands Day
November 11: Veterans Day
I’ve
taken the opportunity to celebrate at few of the parks/monuments,
including Mt. Rushmore and a recent -- of several -- visits to the
Petroglyphs National Monument (which sits outside my front door). Just
this past week the Petroglyphs National Monument held a concert with the
string quartet, Chatter. Attendees heard compositions from Benjamin
Britten and Philip Glass while surrounded by volcanoes, Native rock art
(petroglyphs) and a large city (Albuquerque). It was a fitting
celebration, a conjoining of humanity and nature, an artistic
convergence of ancient art mixed with modern art. I suppose this
human-nature-culture combination is what the National Parks are all
about.
If
classical music at a National Park or monument is not an option, then
do as the Find Your Park website suggest [3], you can easily go
climbing, write poetry, be an urban hiker, visit a National Heritage
site, or just dance at one of the 58 National Parks or the 121 National
Monuments [4]. The point is: take advantage of these natural and
historical marvels.
And
if a National Park or monument visit is not on your schedule, then do
yourself a favor: watch Ken Burn’s excellent PBS documentary or read
some of the fine books on the subject. Here are a few to consider:
National Geographic Guide to the National Parks
* The National Parks: America’s Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
* Your Guide to the National Parks by Joseph Oswald
* The National Parks by Kim Heacox
* The National Parks: An American Legacy by Ian Shive
The
bottom line is that Americans -- and all people -- should celebrate the
gift of creation, the unique landscape afforded to us first by God, and
then through individuals working in the government. If God and
government give us something this grand to protect, preserve—and enjoy,
then let’s be good stewards of what’s been and entrusted to us and take
them up on the offer to relish our great landscape treasures.
And, hey, who can say no to a birthday party that lasts a whole year?
For more information, click here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial/index.htm
Photo
captions: 1) Yosemite, California. 2) The Grand Canyon, Arizona. 3)
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. 4) The string quartet, Chatter, at the
Petroglyphs National Monument. 5) Brian Nixon with Dan Wooding at the
Petroglyphs National Monument.
About
the writer: Brian Nixon is a writer, musician, and minister. He's a
graduate of California State University, Stanislaus (BA) and is a Fellow
at Oxford Graduate School (D.Phil.). To learn more, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Nixon.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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