Park Service feted on 100th birthday

Petersburg’s National Battlefield Park will host a National Park-themed movie and trivia night to commemorate the 100th birthday. Yet the National Park Service budget is only 0.01 percent of the federal budget, just short of $3 billion annually.

Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, celebrated the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service at a kick-off celebration at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park in Boston, Massachusetts with National Parks of Boston and partner organizations who are hosting dozens of free activities along the waterfront. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland offered free mule-drawn boat rides on Thursday.

Park rangers will narrate the history of the sites, including the Jackson Ward home of Maggie L. Walker, the first African-American woman founder and president of a bank in the United States, Fort Harrison, Malvern Hill battlefield and Rural Plains.

Yellowstone, Wyoming, became the first official national park in 1872, and more followed throughout Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.

“Back in 1916 on August 25th, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill that established the National Park Service”. The emblem contains elements symbolizing the major facets of the national park system.

Even as we consider the great legacy of leaders who understood the importance of national lands, let’s put pressure on future leaders to take steps via laws and budgets to preserve those gifts. Visitors are invited to share National Park photos on social media using the hashtag #NPS100.

What national parks have you visited? Have we got a spot for you! Denali National Park centennial coordinator Lynn McAloon said the event was one of many held throughout the year, to mark the anniversary but also connect with the next generation of park users.