When I was a kid, my mom and dad loaded our truck with our camper on top and drove to South Dakota for a week of family fun. As much family fun that could be had in South Dakota anyway. We didn’t have a ton of money growing up, so we had to take what we could get in the way of family vacations. Don’t feel sorry for me though; I still got to go to Disneyland at least a few times.
To be honest, I don’t know why we decided to go to South Dakota. I wasn’t involved in the decision making process. I was just told that we were going and that was that. I wasn’t even mad.
It was the first time I got to see Mt. Rushmore. I remember the surreal feeling of seeing something you see on TV all the time in person. It was like getting to see a movie star, if that movie star was carved on the face of a mountain, that is. We also got to discover some amazing caves, and the Crazy Horse carving. I was just old enough to understand what was going on and really loved learning about each sight we saw.
The moral of this story is, I don’t remember going to Disneyland that well. I do remember the times we got in our car and went to places like these. I remember our trip to Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain National Park, and Yellowstone, and the Redwood Forest. It had the true sense of adventure and exploration that Disney, as much as I love Disney, just didn’t.
What do National Parks actually do besides offer tourists a place to see nature?
Well, a lot more than you probably know (or maybe you do because you’re awesome like that.)
The national parks are there to preserve our natural world. We humans tend to be a terror on the earth. They work with the land in efforts to provide the best environmental solutions to many problems that we face due to global warming. They manage the plant and animal life within the park. The United States has seen the reemergence of gray wolves and buffalo thanks to Yellowstone National Park’s initiatives. In many ways, they work to reverse the damage that we’ve done to the world and it’s plant and animal life.
The bottom line: They’re here to preserve our natural world and create a space for the future generations.
The High Plains Cowl, Forestry Cowl, and Lake Shore Cowl’s have portions of their proceeds going to this foundation. Let’s keep he good work going and lets make sure that future generations have an earth to live on.
If you want more information about the National Park Foundation, please visit their incredible website: http://www.nationalparks.org
I hope that you are able to find yourself at a national park this summer.
