America's National Parks [antikvár]

Our Treasured lands The American national parks celebrate the timeless earth-shaping and life-giving forces of nature. In these magnificent landscapes, so rich in human legend and natural diversity, we witness the planet's inexhaustible creative energies and satisfy our longing for the perfect beauty of wild nature. As the parks are shaped by great forces, so do they shape us—calming us as they thrill us, and humbling iis as they fill us with pride. Ask a few of your friends to name the most important American invention. You will get some lively and confident answers. Sports fans will say baseball. Music buffs will champion jazz, or bluegrass. Other enthusiasts will offer other quirky and even brilliant creations—the telephone, or DNA fingerprinting, or rodeo, or the cheeseburger—as the most uniquely American gift to the planet. We are passionate about many different things, and there are many definitions of "important." One answer you probably will not get is "the national parks." And yet the parks may be the most far-reaching institution we Americans have brought to the long pageant of human society. Since Yellowstone was established in 1872, almost every nation on the planet has embraced the national park idea. Of course as the world conservation movement has grown, each nation's park system has found its own unique direction, reflecting the needs of its equally unique culture. Nowadays, America's parks are as likely to benefit from the wisdom of park professionals elsewhere as vice versa. But the American contribution stands. By creating the first parks, we led the way to a world of parks. And by creating such a comprehensive national park system, we discovered new meanings for parks. Once seen only as resorts or