Our National Park System is one of our national treasures. Read the following excerpts about historical conservationists and complete the following activity.

A photograph of naturalist John Muir. In this photo he is outdoors seated on a rock, leaning on a cane. He is in his later years with a full beard wearing a hat.
John Muir
Source: John Muir Cane, Francis M. Fritz, Wikimedia

The "Father of the National Park Service"

"John Muir was many things, inventor, immigrant, botanist, glaciologist, writer, co-founder of the Sierra Club, fruit rancher. But it was John Muir's love of nature, and the preservation of it, that we can thank him for today. Muir convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to protect Yosemite (including Yosemite Valley), Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as National Parks."
-From: http://www.nps.gov/jomu/index.htm

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
-John Muir Our National Parks , 1901, page 56.

A photograph of Naturalist John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt standing on a rock overlooking a valley. Source: Muir and Roosevelt restored, Library of Congress

"One of President Theodore Roosevelt's most lasting and significant contributions to the world was the permanent preservation of the some of the most unique natural resources of the United States. According to the National Geographic, the area of the United States placed under public protection by Theodore Roosevelt, as National Parks, National Forests, game and bird preserves, and other federal reservations, comes to a total of approximately 230,000,000 acres or about 84,000 acres per day!"
From: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/conservation.htm

"In utilizing and conserving the natural resources of the Nation, the one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight.... The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life."
Theodore Roosevelt: Address to the National Editorial Association, Jamestown, Virginia, June 10, 1907

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Visit this website to help you with the activity below: Find a Park