Have you ever wondered about National Parks? How many are there? What are they called? Where are they? Why do we have them? Why should we care about them? Why should we protect them? Well now I’ll tell you just read on and this article will answer those questions.

Did you know that since we are in the 4th grade we get to go to each National Park, with our family, for free? So why don’t you take a trip some time? A national park is scenic or historically important area of countryside protected by the federal government for the enjoyment of the general public or the preservation of wildlife. Commercial exploitation of natural resources in a national park is illegal.

There are 61 national parks in the United States.  California has the most (nine), followed by Alaska (eight), Utah (five), and Colorado (four). Some popular national parks include Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Acadia National Park, Everglades National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Glacier National Park, Zion National Park, Denali National, and Mesa Verde National Park.

The largest national park is Wrangell–St. Elias in Alaska: at over 8 million acres (32,375 km2), it is larger than each of the nine smallest states. The next three largest parks are also in Alaska.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act, which gave presidents the authority to create national monuments to preserve areas of natural or historic interest on public lands. The purpose of the Act was largely to protect prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts.

All of these parks are holding onto something special. For example, places in California like Joshua Tree and Red Wood National Park are home to trees that grow nowhere else on the planet we know as Earth. Joshua Trees can only be found in Joshua Tree National Park. Same with the Redwoods. You can only see them in Redwood National Park.

We can help to preserve our national parks by purchasing a reusable water bottle or replacing our incandescent lights with CFLs or LEDs. These are some other rules you can follow to help and protect and preserve our national parks so our great great great great great great grandchildren can visit these amazing places:

• Try To Put Fewer Greenhouse Gasses In The Air.

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

• Walk, Bike, Carpool, or use Public Transportation.

• Eat Locally.

• Shorten Your Shower.
• Use Less Electricity.
• Replace Your Incandescent.

I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope you decide to visit a National park. I personally suggest Joshua Tree National Park. It is my favorite one because of the cool animals such as the chuckwalla. Also, the bouldering opportunities are endless. So if you like bouldering and wildlife go visit Joshua Tree National Park.