336 CHAPTER 13 Land Resources
National Parks and Wilderness Areas
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Programme identifies more than 3500 national parks,
as defined by the International Union for the Conser-
vation of Nature (IUCN), in nearly 100 countries. As in
the United States, parks in other countries usually have
multiple roles, ranging from providing biological habitat
to facilitating human recreation.Threats to U.S. Parks Some national parks are
overcrowded (Figure 13.10c). Problems plaguing urban
areas are also found in popular national parks during
peak seasonal use, including crime, vandalism, litter, traf-
fic jams, and pollution of the soil, water, and air. In addi-
tion, thousands of resource violations, from cutting live
trees and collecting plants, minerals, and fossils, to defac-
ing historical structures with graffiti and setting fires, are
investigated in national parks each year. Park managers
have had to reduce visitor access to park areas that have
become degraded from overuse, and in some cases to
restrict vehicle traffic (Figure 13.10d).
Many people think more funding is needed to main-
tain and repair existing parks. Facilities at some of the
largest, most popular parks, such as Yosemite, the Grand
Canyon, and Yellowstone, were last upgraded some 30
years ago. Recreation fees account for less than $200
million of the approximately $3.1billion a year the NPS
spends. Although steps were taken to make parks more
self-sufficient, they still depend on general tax revenues
to pay for their operations.
Some national parks have imbalances in wildlife popu-
lations. Populations of many mammal species are in decline,
including bears, white-tailed jackrabbits, and red foxes. For
example, grizzly bear populations in national parks of the
western United States are threatened. Grizzlies are territo-
rial and require large areas of wilderness as habitat, and the
presence of humans in national parks may adversely affect
them. Most importantly, the parks may be too small to sup-
port grizzlies. Fortunately, so far grizzly bears have survived
in sustainable numbers in Alaska and Canada.
Other mammal populations—notably elk—have pro-
liferated. Elk in Yellowstone National Park’s northern
range increased from a population of 3100 in 1968 to a
record high of 19,000 in 1994. Ecologists documented
that elk reduced the abundance of native vegetation, such
as willow and aspen, and seriously eroded stream banks.- State which government agency administers
U.S. national parks and describe current issues
of concern. - Define wilderness and discuss the
administration and goals of the National
Wilderness Preservation System and the
problems faced by wilderness areas. - Explain the differences between the wise-use
and environmental movements’ views on the
use of public lands.
M
any acres of federal land are set aside either
as national park property or as wilderness
areas. Both types of land were established to
encourage the protection of the natural
environment, and both experience conflicts associated
with how best to use and manage these protected areas.
National Parks
In 1872 Congress established the world’s first national park,
Yellowstone National Park, in federal lands in the territo-
ries of Montana and Wyoming. The purpose of the park
was to protect great scenic beauty and biological diversity
in an unimpaired condition for present and future genera-
tions. Created in 1916 as a federal bureau in the Depart-
ment of the Interior, the National Park Service (NPS) was
originally composed of large, scenic areas in the West such
as Yellowstone, Yosemite Valley, and the Grand Canyon
(Figure 13.10a). Today the NPS has more cultural and his-
torical sites—battlefields and historically important build-
ings and towns—than places of scenic wilderness. The NPS
currently administers 397 sites, 58 of which are national
parks (see the introduction to this chapter), encompassing
34.2 million hectares (84.4 million acres).
Because the NPS believes that knowledge and
under standing increase enjoyment, one of its primary roles
is to teach people about the natural environment, manage-
ment of natural resources, and history of a site by providing
nature walks and guided tours of its parks. Exhibits along
roads and trails, evening campfire programs, museum dis-
plays, and lectures are other common educational tools.
The popularity and success of U.S. national parks
(Figure 13.10b) have encouraged many other nations
to establish national parks. Today the U.N. Environment