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Show Date Marks 100th Anniversary of National Park Service in America A ImiutiYil yt'.irs n- this ..iU on M.uvli 1. UuX Piv.sl-leiit Piv.sl-leiit I'Kssos S. Oiant sis;iil uto law an Ait that lontunu's oil.iy to have a n rowing '( vt iivu Moah. W.us tid'oro Tosutnit llranfs siiutuie roui;ht ai iilt-a to fruition, low out, that ioVa was born iikI luii'tmvit in other moil s luiuis. v It Ivg.m in ISM, when a v;uuli and trapper loft tho . -owis anil Chirk exposition as " t returned from the historic r xp'.oratum of tho northwest, Toiler explored and trapped the unknown country where ilontana, Idaho, and Wvom-tis Wvom-tis now meet, lie brought )aek tales that no reasonable yun could believe. As years passed, other hardy 'mou:i-j.iin 'mou:i-j.iin men" repeated his wild . stories of bubbling mud pels, soiling water squirting out of 'J he ground, and rivers that ,.in with hot water. Although 'ie tales were obviously th-.-pavings of men who spent too nany lonely winters in the -ills, their persistence led in ime to scientific examination f the area. When the seient-sts seient-sts came back with the same ales as Colter and later trap- v 1 Prom tlie Canyons . . . wJk-v' Ct! nyotiK mc! s An; lies - 'SrUKjr"; s -N I'h'o 'I l''"'K Vrcc p, i.iriiiu'iif i't the iiil''n.,r pers, altituiles changed. A variety of ideas was soon developed for using the wondrous won-drous area. Some developers saw a grand opportunity for private resorts, spas and other oth-er profitable activities. One rather peculiar proposal was that the area was too valu-ble valu-ble as a natural attraction to allow uneoltrolled private use. It was therefore proposed to the Congress that the land he set aside, to be kept as a public "pleasure ground" open op-en to all people. The Congress eventually agreed to the new idea, and passed legislation setting aside a large expanse for public recreation. When President Grant signed the Act establishing Yellowstone National Park one hundred years ago today, a new concept con-cept of land use was initiated. Never before had any government gov-ernment established public laud specifically for public recreation. In the United States, Sta-tes, land had been iledicat.d for local people or for special interest groups, hut never for all the people. Kvon earlier, European and Asian rulers had recreational privilegs on government lands, but "the people" were forbidden use of those lands. When Yellowstone Yellow-stone was born, a new concept con-cept of land management wiis born with it. The belief that free men hold an inherent right to use their Goverr-inent Goverr-inent owned lands was demonstrated dem-onstrated In a new way. Recreational Rec-reational use of lands reserved reserv-ed for other purposes (timber mineral values, etc.) had been established, but the idea of preserving natural resources resour-ces primarily for public recreation rec-reation was new. The National Park idea thus originated in the Tinted S'a-tes, S'a-tes, and in this country it has flourished. It is also one of our most successful exports, having resulted in national park systems in more than a hundred other countries. J-many J-many lands, the idea has modified to meet local conditions; con-ditions; in some countries, for example, the idea came too late: there was no natural undisturbed resources to preserve. pre-serve. Despite necessary modifications, nearly all nations na-tions have followed the U. S. pattern as closely as possible and many routinely call upon the U.S. to help provide planning plan-ning and development advice and expertise. The National Park Sen-ice today administers more than 2.S0 areas which protect and interpret outstanding natural and historic values. To rims', people, the phrase "National Park Service'' evokes thoughts of Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Die oilier great natural arras. Few people peo-ple realize that must National Nation-al Park Service areas relate to the nation's history and prehistory. You can trace tin: course of the Revolution cr follow the tides of Civil War battles within the National Park System. The life of prehistoric pre-historic inhabitants, the Indian In-dian Wars, and the human flood of the westward movement move-ment can be seen and relived in .National Park Service areas. ar-eas. And, of course, you can visit the nation's finest exam- pies of scenic grandeur and come away refreshed in body and spirit by the pristine beauty and serenity to be found there. When President Grant signed sign-ed the Yellowstone Act on March 1, 1872, he probably couldn't even imagine a time when 2. 000, 000 Americans would visit the area each year. He surely couldn't imagine im-agine tlie throngs of visitois that crowd the roads and other oth-er facilities today, but much of the park has seen relatively relative-ly little change. For those who wish a wilderness experience the opportunity still exists. For those who wish to visit Old Faithful and other main features, that experience also awaits. President Grant never heard of Moab, Utah but Irs action 100 years ago has had a lasting and growing effect upon this community. The U. S. Congress didn't build tho scenery and features that he-suited he-suited in two National Paries near Moab, but it's a demonstrable demon-strable fact that designation of an area as a Nationl Prk attracts visitors. Visitation to Arches is expected to increase incr-ease sharply this year and steady increases can be anticipated an-ticipated in the future. As roads and other visitor facilities faci-lities come to Canyonlands, visitation will skyrocket and then settle into steady annual increases. Tourist oriented businesses are destined to grow and the community will benefit as the industry grows. The chain of events begun a century ago will continue tD contribute to Moab's growth and economic health for all the foreseeable future. |