Sierra Club
In 1864 Abraham Lincoln designated California's Yosemite Valley as a state park "held for public use, resort, and recreation."
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, great American conservationist conservative that he was, created 150 national forests, 51 national bird reservations, 6 national parks, and 18 national monuments. Some of these national monuments, such as the grand Grand Canyon, have since been enlarged into national parks.
Thanks to President Roosevelt, we now have the Antiquities Act of 1906, the first law to establish that archeological sites on public lands are important public resources and authorize Presidents of the United States "to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected".
To view all of the photos from this Parks for All trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, please click HERE!
Following the Sierra Club's co-sponsorship of the Denver Juneteenth Music Festival with the NAACP and in advance of the Club's co-sponsorship of the Americas Latino Eco Festival, in accordance with the Club's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) grant to it's Conservation Department, a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park was scheduled for October 10th to celebrate 100 years of the National Parks System.
In partnership with the St. Cajetan Catholic Church from this summer's Browns Canyon National Monument Celebration (made possible through the Hispanic Access Foundation), local Sierra Club membership joined church members in travelling as a group of 45 from Denver with Jim, the same ever-supportive busdriver from Browns Canyon. Three cars of other participants pooled to the Rocky Mountain location.
Today Americans have 407 public properties in the national park system, including: 4 lakeshores & 10 seashores, 18 recreational areas & 4 parkways, 79 national monuments & 124 historical sites, 27,000 historic and prehistoric structures, and 18 preserves & 2 reserves.
To find a park near you, or along your vacation route, please visit www.nps.gov/findapark.
Under the current administration the fossil fuel industry threatens American lands in expanding it's reach from an area 55 times larger than Grand Canyon National Park, over 67 million acres, to encroach on 15 million acres of public land and 21 million acres of oceanic earth for fossil fuel industrialization.
Help protect these acres and sites which embody the American ideal of egalitarianism by clicking here.
Please find below links to a handful of leaders in the fight to save our public parklands and national monuments:
Center for Western Priorities, Our American Public Lands, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the National Parks Conservation Association.
Every summer, many people will visit America's national parks, and many may not yet be fully aware of the history of the system or the threats it now faces. Share this issue with friends, family, and colleagues! #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque #ParksForAll #MonumentsForAll #HealingHikes #ProtectMiTierra
"Federal public lands and waters — such as our national parks, monuments, forests, wildlife refuges and oceans — are cherished resources for us all. They embody deep and diverse cultural values and provide clean air and water, recreation and solitude, and refuge for endangered wildlife." -- Keep it In the Ground