Show VAST laboratory ional monuments protect scientific historic features features several months ago national park service received an urgent appeal from a small boy send me some tion he wrote my class is studying about it one might assume that the little boy was revealing an overconfidence in the ability of national park service to come across 11 actually the youngster was not too far out of line the areas that make up the nationals natio nalO park system of the united states cut a inde swath across the total of natural and human phenomena throughout the entire country there is a genuine thirst for knowl edge and from to national parks 1500 requests for informs eleventh tion are re in a series daily I 1 in the central office of na dional park service these requests come not only from school children but also from mature men and women many more thousands of people go directly to the national parks monuments and historic sites to seek first hand for the answers to their questions the national park system serves as a vast laboratory for the study of north american bi geology paleontology history and pre history the great national parks such as yellowstone glacier ite and grand canyon were established primarily for the protection of magnificent scenery but each of these parks also con bains a boundless variety et of natural phenomena the national monuments on the other hand have been created usually to protect a single scientific or his feature an extinct vol voi cano an ancient indian ruin or an early american fortification it often has been said that a na dional park covers a large area while a national monument is small this is not true many national monuments contain only a few acres each but there are a num ber of geological exhibits in the na dional park system of such vast proportions that areas of consider able extent are required for their protection THE TWO LARGEST areas in the national park system are national monuments these are kalmal and glacier bay in alaska gatmai national monument containing 4 square miles is a volcanic regon reg on the scene of a violent eruption in 1912 which resulted in creation of the valley of the ten thousand smokes glac er bay national mon ament covering 3 square miles of territory embraces several huge glaciers and a bay choked with ice bergs largest national monument in the united states proper is death valley covering 2891 2 square miles of desert and mountains here is located the lowest point in the country feet below the level of the sea gatmai and glacier bay national monuments are undeveloped and re quire much preparation and plan ning on the part of the visitor be fore he can explore them but death valley in california so forbidding to the early immigrant now can be vis ted in comfort and safety by the rno borla beath death valley how ever is extremely hot in the sum mer and the best seasons there are late tall fail winter and early spring THE FIRST national monument ryas pas devil s T ter er in northeastern ai established by pro proc clama iama tion of pres theodore roosevelt in 1906 this is an toot foot column of volca volcanic rock which stands high above the surrounding country and may be seen tor for many miles muir woods national monument in mann marin county california just north of the golden gate is an other early national monument having been created to in 1908 here is a small but fine grove of call cali forma fornia redwood trees nestling in a deep ravine on the slopes of mount Ta malpais the monument was named in honor of john muir the famous naturalist who did much to arouse public sentiment tor for krotec tion of the redwoods and sequoias AMONG THE BETTER known national monuments primarily of scientific interest are the petrified forest Fores tonU on U S highway 66 in east era ern arizona the white sands in south central new mexico jack son hole in wyoming adjoining grand teton national park and the badlands in south dakota east of the black hills less well known but accessible by highway are the joshua tree national monument in southern california the organ pipe cactus and saguaro national bonu ments in arizona these three areas all contain unusual exhibits of des ert type flora capulin mountain in new mexico craters of the moon in idaho the devil s Post pile and pinnacles in california sunset crater in arizona and wheeler in colorado are all national monuments illustrating various forms of volcanic action capulin mountain is a particular ly fine example of an extinct vol cano and the highway spirals around the mountain from the base to the rim of the crater from the summit on a clear day one has a view extending into four states 0 PERSONS interested in caa eras erns will find the following group of national monuments of interest jewel cave in south dakota leh man caves in nevada oregon caves near crater lake national park in oregon and gos cave in utah shoshone caverns national monument in wyoming is not yet developed and is not open to the public students of extinct forms of ani mal and plant life will profit from a visit to dinosaur national bonu ment in colorado and fossil cycad national monument in south da kota PERHAPS THE MOST interest ing and unusual of all national mon is a group in southern utah near the ithe arizona border which in eludes the arches the natural bridges and the rainbow br dge national monuments all three areas are relatively inaccessible A road does extend fairly close to the first of the natural bridges but from there on the traveler must pro aeed on foot or horseback to reach the rainbow bridge the visitor must make a two day trip by horse with an automobile with over sized tires it is possible to pene the windows section of arches national monument but to the dev il s garden carden one must go on foot or horse the story told in these three national monuments is one of erosion by wind and water other national monuments which also tell the story of erosion are cedar breaks zion and capital reef in utah grand canyon and chiricahua Chin cahua in arizona the black canyon of the gunnison and colo rado in the state of colorado FURTHER information per to national monuments may be obtained by writing national park service washington 25 D C or chicago 54 |