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Date: 4/20/07 A new photography exhibit on America’s national parks opens today at Joshua Tree National Park. Called America’s Best Idea, the exhibit features color panoramic prints of America’s fifty-eight national parks. All images in the exhibit were taken by photographer Stan Jorstad. The exhibit is being hosted by the Joshua Tree National Park Association, the non-profit partner of Joshua Tree National Park, at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center, located at 6554 Park Boulevard in the community of Joshua Tree, California. The exhibit is open to the public free of charge. The Joshua Tree Visitor Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst,” wrote Wallace Stegner, a Pulitzer Prize winning author known for his writings on the American West. The America’s Best Idea exhibit was created by Yosemite National Park in partnership with the American Park Network, Nature Valley, and the Yosemite Fund. The exhibit opened at Yosemite in October and is now touring the United States at selected national parks. While the National Park Service currently manages 391 sites scattered across the United States and its territories, only 58 are officially designated as “National Park.” Photographer Stan Jorstad, one of only a handful of professional photographers who have photographed every national park, hopes that all who see his images will come away with a renewed appreciation for our irreplaceable natural and cultural treasures. The America’s Best Idea exhibit will be on display through the end of June. Joshua Tree Superintendent Curt Sauer noted “I think it’s wonderful that, as we get ready to celebrate National Park Week, Joshua Tree National Park is able to offer this outstanding collection of national park photos to our visitors. I hope people will take advantage of this time to come see the exhibit and remind themselves how lucky we are that we live in a country that has set aside so many of its most special places for everyone to enjoy.” National Park Week is set for April 22-29, 2007. In addition to the exhibit, the Joshua Tree National Park Association will be selling the companion book America’s Best Idea: A Photographic Journey Through Our National Parks. This book contains the same beautiful images by photographer Stan Jorstad and also provides the reader a history of names, dates and designations of all of our national parks. More information about this special exhibit as well as information about Joshua Tree National Park can be found by visiting the park’s website at www.nps.gov/jotr, or by calling the park at 760-367-5500. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015