By Gregory Korte
Washington — President Obama (click here) has a lot of official reasons for visiting Yosemite this weekend: It's the centennial year of the National Park Service, he's highlighting policy proposals to invest more in public spaces, and he's encouraging more Americans to visit national parks.
But there's another, more personal reason for the president's visit: It's Father's Day.
"This has to be the perfect way to spend Father's Day, and Father's Day weekend," Obama said Saturday at Yosemite's picturesque Half Dome rock formation. "Just look at this scene. You can't capture this on an Ipad or a flat screen, or even an oil painting. You have to come in and breathe it in yourself."...
White House letter to Stephen Mather after the President signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service on August 25, 1916.
By the Act of March 1, 1872, (click here) 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" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.
In the years following the establishment of Yellowstone, the United States authorized additional national parks and monuments, many of them carved from the federal lands of the West. These, also, were administered by the Department of the Interior, while other monuments and natural and historical areas were administered by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands....
January 27, 2016
America’s National Parks: Record Number of Visitors in 2015 (click here)
WASHINGTON – More than 305 million people visited national parks in 2015, eclipsing the all-time visitation record that the National Park Service saw in the previous year. The unofficial visitation numbers for 2015 were announced by National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, as the National Park Service (NPS) is celebrating its centennial year....
..."The increase in Congressional appropriations comes at a critical time for the National Park Service and will help us to serve the growing number of visitors,"Jarvis said. "We look forward to continuing to work with Congress as it considers additional legislation in support of the National Park Service Centennial, which would further improve the national parks by encouraging philanthropy and volunteerism, while also allowing us to improve visitor services and connect with a new generation of national park visitors."
By the Numbers: Unofficially, the NPS recorded more than 305 million visits during 2015. That is an increase of more than 12 million visits, and more than four percent, over the 2014 figure of 292.8 million visits. About 365 of 409 parks in the national park system record visitation numbers. The NPS has recorded more than 13 billion visits to parks since park managers began counting visitors in 1904, some 12 years before the NPS was created. Official statistics including the most-visited parks of the national park system and the most-visited national parks will be released in late February.
Statistics below are from "Yosemite National Park" alone: (click here) The US National Parks support local economies. These statistics were from 2009. THAT YEAR WAS 2009. It was the first year of President Obama's first year in his first term. It was a time in our country's history when the USA had to turn around a devastated economy. The National Parks served as a place for many to continue to have a vacation in difficult financial times. The National Parks are valuable to the quality of life of Americans. It is a great time to celebrate the National Parks in President Obama's last year in office in his second term.
9% of visitors were international visitors. With 9% each from Germany, Korea, Taiwan, United Kindgom.
11% of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic, and 11% as Asian. Of those Asian visitors, the most well-represented races were Chinese (24%) and Japanese (22%).
The median group expenditure in the park and the surrounding 50-mile area was $490.
But there's another, more personal reason for the president's visit: It's Father's Day.
"This has to be the perfect way to spend Father's Day, and Father's Day weekend," Obama said Saturday at Yosemite's picturesque Half Dome rock formation. "Just look at this scene. You can't capture this on an Ipad or a flat screen, or even an oil painting. You have to come in and breathe it in yourself."...
By the Act of March 1, 1872, (click here) 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" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.
In the years following the establishment of Yellowstone, the United States authorized additional national parks and monuments, many of them carved from the federal lands of the West. These, also, were administered by the Department of the Interior, while other monuments and natural and historical areas were administered by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands....
January 27, 2016
America’s National Parks: Record Number of Visitors in 2015 (click here)
WASHINGTON – More than 305 million people visited national parks in 2015, eclipsing the all-time visitation record that the National Park Service saw in the previous year. The unofficial visitation numbers for 2015 were announced by National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, as the National Park Service (NPS) is celebrating its centennial year....
..."The increase in Congressional appropriations comes at a critical time for the National Park Service and will help us to serve the growing number of visitors,"Jarvis said. "We look forward to continuing to work with Congress as it considers additional legislation in support of the National Park Service Centennial, which would further improve the national parks by encouraging philanthropy and volunteerism, while also allowing us to improve visitor services and connect with a new generation of national park visitors."
By the Numbers: Unofficially, the NPS recorded more than 305 million visits during 2015. That is an increase of more than 12 million visits, and more than four percent, over the 2014 figure of 292.8 million visits. About 365 of 409 parks in the national park system record visitation numbers. The NPS has recorded more than 13 billion visits to parks since park managers began counting visitors in 1904, some 12 years before the NPS was created. Official statistics including the most-visited parks of the national park system and the most-visited national parks will be released in late February.
Statistics below are from "Yosemite National Park" alone: (click here) The US National Parks support local economies. These statistics were from 2009. THAT YEAR WAS 2009. It was the first year of President Obama's first year in his first term. It was a time in our country's history when the USA had to turn around a devastated economy. The National Parks served as a place for many to continue to have a vacation in difficult financial times. The National Parks are valuable to the quality of life of Americans. It is a great time to celebrate the National Parks in President Obama's last year in office in his second term.
9% of visitors were international visitors. With 9% each from Germany, Korea, Taiwan, United Kindgom.
11% of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic, and 11% as Asian. Of those Asian visitors, the most well-represented races were Chinese (24%) and Japanese (22%).
The median group expenditure in the park and the surrounding 50-mile area was $490.
