On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations"—and the National Park Service was born. Admission to all of the United States' 412 national parks will be free August 25-28, 2016. More information can be found here!
Want to learn more about the history and ecology of our national parks? Check out the books listed below; read a brief but fascinating essay by Kevin Holdsworth, author of Good Water, on the politics of creating a national park; and watch for an exciting upcoming project from Bradly Boner on America's first national park: Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time, a stunning side-by-side photographic comparison of Yellowstone in 1871 and today.
AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS: HISTORIES & GUIDES
- Ancient Piñon-Juniper Woodlands: A Natural History of Mesa Verde Country
- Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains
- The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park, Third Edition
- Exploring Desert Stone: John N. Macomb's 1859 Expedition to the Canyonlands of the Colorado
- The Geezers' Guide to Colorado Hikes
- The Geysers of Yellowstone, Fourth Edition
- Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area
- Hiking Circuits in Rocky Mountain National Park
- Lee's Ferry: From Mormon Crossing to National Park
- Life on the Rocks: A Portrait of the American Mountain Goat
- Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries, Revised Edition
- Natural History of the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin
- Passage to Wonderland: Rephotographing Joseph Stimson's Views of the Cody Road to Yellowstone National Park, 1903 & 2008
- Rainbow Bridge: An Illustrated History
- Rocky Mountain Mammals: A Handbook of Mammals of Rocky Mountain National Park and Vicinity, Third Edition
- Rocky Mountain National Park: A History
- Tales of Canyonlands Cowboys
- "This Blue Hollow": Estes Park, the Early Years, 1859-1915
- Wyoming Revisited: Rephotographing the Scenes of Joseph E. Stimson
- Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time
- The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park, Volumes I and II
- Yellowstone Wildlife: Ecology and Natural History of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
