Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Coffee Hour at Street Prophets. This is an open thread where we can discuss what’s happening in our lives, what we’ve been working on, and our opinions on current events. Today’s question: Do you have a favorite national park? If so, which one?
At the present time, the United States has 59 national parks which are operated by the National Park Service which is administered by the Department of the Interior (the same department that also administers the Bureau of Indian Affairs). America’s first national park was Yellowstone which was created in 1872. This was followed by the creation of Mackinac National Park in 1875 (this park was decommissioned in 1895) and Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The National Park Service was created in 1916 to administer the parks to conserve the scenery, the natural history, the historic objects, and the wildlife in theses parks.
Of the 59 national parks in the United States, 14 have been designated as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The parks which carry this designation must be of outstanding universal value.
While national parks are owned by the United States, our current governmental policy calls for them to be operated as business which means that they service customers—people who can afford the admission price—rather than the general public. For a growing number of poor people, visiting and camping in the national parks is now too expensive. Many conservatives have called for the transfer of national parks to the state, or the sale of the parks to private corporations. Conservatives would like to see many parks opened up to mining and oil operations, timber harvests, and other economic activities.
Our questions for today: What’s your favorite national park? What national parks have you visited recently? What are some of your memories about visiting national parks.
This is an open thread which means it is okay to talk about something other than national parks, like what’s for dinner?