happy 100th birthday!

The National Park Service turns 100 years old today... and we are all invited to the party! From August 25th through August 28th, 2016 all 412 national parks (including national monuments, national seashores, national battlefields, national memorials, etc.) are offering FREE ADMISSION!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It all began way back in 1872 when Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." It was placed under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior. The founding of Yellowstone National Park was the impetus for countries around the world to also establish their own national parks. Today there are about 1200 national parks or similar preserves in over 100 countries.

Congress authorized other parks and memorials which were administered by the Department of the Interior, the War Department, and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture - there was no one single agency unifying the administration of the parks and monuments.

On August 26, 1916,  President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments already administered by the Department of the Interior as well as any new national parks or monuments that might be established in the future. An Executive Order in 1933 transferred 56 national monuments and military sites from the Forest Service and the War Department to the National Park Service. Finally, all the national parks, monuments and military sites were administered by one department.

Today there are 59 National Parks located in 27 states and the territories of American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands - a 68.5% increase in the last 100 years! And national monuments, military sites, memorials, rivers, seashores, etc. have increased just over 530% in the last 100 years! Wow!

One of my Bucket List items is to visit all 59 National Parks. To date, I have been to 29 and I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite.

(Clockwise from top: Denali National Park (Alaska), Arches National Park (Utah), Voyageurs National Park (Minnesota), Badlands National Park (South Dakota), Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona), Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota), Joshua Tree National Park (California), Haleakala National Park (Hawaii)

The National Park Service protects our national treasures. They are areas of magnificent beauty, historical significance and/or wildlife refuges. Make it a priority to visit some of these each year. Perhaps even this weekend when they are FREE! You will be seeing America... the beautiful!