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ParkWise
> Teachers >
Treasures
> National Parks Treasure Hunt
National
Parks Treasure Hunt:
What is the National Park Service?
Where's
the treasure?
Treasures are precious things that we want to protect and never
lose. Some things like gold and jewels are treasures because they
are worth a lot of money. Other things are treasures because they
mean something special to us and they are part of who we are. Many
of these treasures are special to ourselves or our family and we
save them in our homes. Other treasures are important to our community
or even the entire country and we save those in museums. Some treasures
are places, however, and cannot fit within a museum case. Those
places are the kinds of treasures that the National Park Service
takes care of for us, and they are all over this country.
What
is a national park?
National parks are the natural, cultural and historic places that
are significant to our country, its environment and our ourselves
as citizens. They are so valuable to the country and the American
people that they are considered treasures worth preserving forever,
so these places have been set aside to protect for all time so that
we may always have them to learn from and to cherish.
What
is the National Park Service?
The National Park Service is the part of the United States government
that takes care of national parks around the country. There is a
national park, monument or historic site in almost every state.
The American people have entrusted the care and preservation of
places that are national treasures to the National Park Service.
What
does the National Park Service do?
The Organic Act is the law written by Congress to make the National
Park Service, and it says what the National Park Service should
do. The Organic Act says that the purpose of the National Park Service
"is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic
objects and the wild life 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."
That
sounds confusing, what does it mean?
It means that the National Park Service protects nature and history
in parks so that they will be around forever - for your grandchildren
and their grandchildren, and that people like you and me should
be able to see them, and enjoy them and learn from them, like you
are doing right now.
Or
even easier:
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The
National Park Service takes care of the special places that
are America's treasures.
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