National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years in Action
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Bayfield, Wis. is joining in on the Centennial celebration. Photo by Genevieve Adamski.

National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years in Action

This year, the National Park Service is celebrating 100 years of service. The United States’ National Parks are a source of pride for the Nation.

We are a younger country, and while we don’t have ancient castles or churches to tour, our pride lies within the land. Our wild areas are like nothing found in Europe.

The first National Park, Yellowstone, was established in 1872. But there was no government organization to oversee the newly declared gem, and so the Park Service was born. In 1916 the Organic Act established the Park Service to preserve the natural resources of America.

Neil Howk, acting chief of interpretation and education for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore said, “The goal of the centennial celebration is to express our goals, hopes and challenges here and to connect with and create the next generation of park visitors.”

Today, there are 58 parks and over 300 National Park Service sites across the country. Wisconsin hosts four parks. The Apostle Islands, St. Croix Scenic Riverway, the Ice Age Trail and the North Country Trail.

In the coming years, Park Service jobs are expected to increase. “Workforce needs to evolve and grow; we need people with special expertise in social media platforms because that’s how the next generation of people are planning their excursions outdoors,” Howk said.

Park Service jobs are attractive to many students in The College of Natural Resources. Working in, and preserving these national treasures is where many students are headed with their careers.

Kaira Kamke, senior water resources major said, “We need to preserve the wild spaces and natural areas and allow visitors in to experience these areas, while still preventing degradation. It’s great that the general public can get out there.”

While in past years there has been a large number of visitors, the diversity of park goers is lacking.

“We’ve still noticed the people using the parks are aging and not a very diverse demographic. We want to reach out to people of color and younger people,” Howk said.

To answer this, the Park Service has implemented a program called “Every Kid in a Park.”

The program is designed to get children in fourth grade out in the parks for free. The participants have to complete an online activity to get a park pass voucher, good for free park admission for the students and their families for one year.

With programs like Every Kid in a Park, the National Park Service hopes to increase attendance and diversity in the parks. Last year there was a record of 300 million visitors, and there’s a good chance park attendance this year might break last year’s record.

 

Genevieve Adamski

Environment Sectional Editor

gadam590@uwsp.edu

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