Now This is God's Country: A Closer Look at National Parks

You are about to embark on a journey which will leave your mind full with newly found knowledge. This experience will teach you things that you might not currently know; it will take you places where you possibly haven't yet been; it will tell you of places that you didn't even know existed. If you have ever asked yourself, how tall is El Capitan? How long is the Colorado River? When were national parks first put into place? What is the most-beautiful place on earth? If these questions have ever passed through your mind, then you are about to read something which will, hopefully, put your mind at rest. While providing you with an informative look at the history and wildness of national parks, this report will also reveal unto you the solemn beauty which lies in the wilderness of the United States.

How can all of this be accomplished in a few pages? Please, read on, and find out for yourself. The short time in which you journey through, "Now This is God's Country: A Closer Look at National Parks", will be the best moments of your life.

The idea of a national park was considered over a century ago. In the late 1800's, a conservationist by the name of John Muir led a fight to conserve beautiful areas like Yosemite Valley and Yellowstone. He presented the land to Congress in various ways. As a result of his avid persuasions, displays of photographs, descriptions, and paintings, Congress and President Ulysses S. Grant accepted Muir's proposal to make Yellowstone the first national park, in 1872.Thanks to the continued, conservational efforts of John Muir, the citizens of the world are currently enjoying the beauty that this Country has to offer.

Many people have the belief that Yellowstone was the first national park. They are right on this fact, but Yellowstone wasn't the first area of land that was reserved for conservation. In 1864, President Abe Lincoln signed a grant which gave the sequoias of Marisopa Grove to California. Marisopa Grove is located on the southern end of the Yosemite Valley. This acreage of land was established as a park, but it wasn't designated as a national park until 1890; this was merely eighteen years after Yellowstone was established in 1872.

As is obvious by the efforts of political leaders whose hearts were in the outdoors, national parks were started in order to protect the wonders of the land. These leaders gave people the chance to experience the beauty of God's, glorious earth. Today the United States is a proud conserver of over 130 parks, reserves, and monuments. National parks account for fifty-one, of the 130, conserved regions of land. Thanks to the continued efforts of today's political leaders, the national parks of the United States should live on for generations to come.
Like all topics, the topic of national parks has its unknowns. One of them is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This national park was named after the most environmentally oriented President, in recent, Presidential history. In 1883, Teddy Roosevelt traveled to the North Dakota Badlands, which is where the park is located. Because of his love for the outdoors, Roosevelt spent much of his time in the North Dakota wilderness; he even had his own ranch. The park wasn't established until 1978-many years after Roosevelt's death.

Landscape attractions in the park consist of desert badlands, rolling meadows of prairie grass, and the amazing, natural phenomenon: smoldering coal seams. Once these seams of coal ignite, they can burn for years. This burning of the coal results in smoke seeping out of the ground, which results in an excellent tourist attraction. This North Dakotan national park is home to numerous species of wildlife. Bison, deer, elk, pronghorn, and even wild horses are some of the larger species that dwell in this park. Teddy Roosevelt National Park supplies over 160 miles of backland trails which can be explored by hiking and biking, as well as by horse-back.

The longest of these trails is Maah Daah Hey Trail. It is 120 miles of pure enjoyment; however, some areas of the trail can be a little difficult to traverse. Even the shortest visit to this park would explain why Teddy Roosevelt loved this land so much. The land is rugged, wild, and seemingly untouched by the effects of human intervention. Teddy Roosevelt NP is a relic to North Dakota, not only because it is named after a former President, but also because of the exquisiteness that it preserves.
Yet another of those unknown facts is the Teddy Roosevelt Elk. It so happens that Olympic National Park was almost entitled Elk National Park because it is home to the largest, unmanaged elk herd in the lower forty-eight states.