Yeah, I couldn’t do it either, but I did manage to nail half of them. Now bear in mind that I’m defining the Midwest as I always do and in the same manner as Midwest Living Magazine does—the 12-state block including IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD and WI.
The recent Ken Burns’ PBS feature on our national parks has piqued a lot of interest in these treasures we all share. But isn’t it odd that most of us think far away when we hear national parks. I’m probably no different than a lot of people whose minds automatically jump to Far West biggies the likes of Yellowstone and Yosemite.
Even though we have a half dozen national parks in the Midwest, I’m willing to bet that most of you don’t know their names and locations. Here they are:
I was able to come up with Isle Royale (of course), Theodore Roosevelt and Badlands, but I didn’t even come close on the other three. Our familiarity with the Midwest’s national monuments and national lakeshores is probably not much better. Let’s see.
Indiana has the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Michigan is blessed with the Sleeping Bear and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores and a National Recreation Area (Grand Island).
Minnesota is home to the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and Wisconsin has the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.
When it comes to national monuments, the Midwest has seven. They are the Effigy Mounts NM in Iowa; the George Washington Carver NM in Missouri; Grand Portage and Pipestone NMs in Minnesota; the Homestead and Scott’s Bluff NMs in Nebraska and Jewel Cave NM in South Dakota.
According to the National Park Service, our Park System comprises 391 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state (except Delaware), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
These areas include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and the White House.
Only about 20,000 permanent, seasonal and temporary employees of the NPS serve the needs of millions of visitors each year (more than 270 million in 2006). More than 145,000 volunteers assist NPS employees.
The largest area in the system is the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Pennsylvania’s Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is the smallest. The National Park Service is a bureau of the Department of the Interior.
The National Park Service was created by an Act signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916. Yellowstone National Park was established by an Act signed by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, as the Nation’s first national park.
Photo of Wind Cave Prairie courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service.
2KSBCSUXNADJ
Like what you are reading? Get our latest articles via e-mail every week!
No information will be given to outside parties. Unsubscribe
Article Comments
Leave a Reply