National Parks Our Living National Treasures

Book excerpt: The National Park Service, created in 1916 and now over one hundred years old, has become an immensely popular concept with visitation equal to the national population of the United States every year. Along the way, the Service has picked up a few issues and stresses that endanger the mission of the NPS. Its unique mission is to preserve and protect America's significant natural, cultural, and historical areas for future generations in an unencumbered condition. The areas that are America's Living National Treasures. Those issues need to be addressed to allow the National Park Service to uphold its mission and continue to protect our National Treasures for future generations. This book is dedicated to the identification of some of those issues and presents possible solutions, by capturing the author's experiences over his 35 year career, depicting what working for the Service entails and its challenges. Once the reader has a better feel for work of the National Park Service, there are specific sections dealing with the author's concerns for the future and the changes needed today to bring the Service back to its prime.