This park is special because it let my US Veteran Husband who because of his war injuries couldn’t hike reach high elevations by car. It let my Mother in her elder years see the waterfalls, alpine meadows with only a short walk from the car. It was the first park my son visited as a young child in a carrier on my back. He visited again as a teen and as an adult. The campfire talks with the rangers at night; the ranger lead hikes; the wildlife; the deep blue sky framing the Never Summer Range. I can now in my later years see all the beauty in my mind’s eye.
Sincerely,
Rocky Mountain National Park
This dramatic landscape of towering mountains and alpine lakes encompasses more than 265,000 acres - 95% of which are designated wilderness. With this intentional focus on protecting this unique landscape, there are few developed infrastructure areas in the park, which leads to traffic problems in areas including the Bear Lake Road Corridor and right off Trail Ridge Road. Alpine tundra also encompasses approximately 1/3 of the park. Alpine tundra is a fundamental and fragile resource, which requires park managers to give this ecosystem increased attention for protection.
State(s): Colorado
Established: 1915
“Humans evolved from being gathers and hunters into the mostly city dwellers we are today. Yet there is a need within all of us for opportunities to touch the soil, to see and hear wildlife, to experience the quiet of nature - the space it creates to listen to our own heart and soul. A National Park is our land, the land that belongs to each American Citizen. It is ours to protect, ours to cherish, our to preserve for our children and their children. Every dollar spent to maintain the existing parks; every dollar spent to expand the number of parks is money very well spent. I believe that if people could allocate a percentage of their tax dollars a great deal of it would go to our National Park System. Now in this transition time of the natural climate change cycle, having more land that is not concrete, that has few roads, that is available for native grass, for trees, for wildlife is even more important. We need those trees, that native grass, that feeling of freedom that our National Parks provide to help us as a people remain a strong and healthy society. Much adversity can be overcome when people can spend some time touching the wildness of the land and feeling the depth of our roots in the soil of our Country.”
National parks represent the best of America. Why do you care about protecting and preserving them? Tell us why parks matter to you!
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