The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1920-02-06
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Mount Mckinley q917), in Alaska, 1920 square
miles, including Mount Mckinley 10000 feet), ana
vast numbers Of big game.
Grand Canon of the Colorado (1919) 95S square
miles in northern Arizona, including the Grahd
Canon, one of the natural wonders of the world
Lafayette Q919) eight square miles on the IS
land of Mount Desert, Maine presented to the ma
ton by the property owners.
Zion Q919), 132 square miles in southern Utah.
including Zion canon, which is said to be the
equal of Yosemite in form and its superior in col
oring.
The national park service is committed to four
enlargement projects of size and dignity. These
include:
The establishment of the Mount Evans region
in Colorado national park area by adding 1t to
Rocky Mountain National park. The Mount Evans
region under consideration contains $50 square
miles, is splendidly scenic and is practically ada
cent to Denver's municipal mountain parks.
The addition of about 1000 square miles on the
south to the Yellowstone National park This area
includes Jackson lake, Grand Teton, Mount Moran
and the headwaters of the Yellowstone river. 1t IS
fine range of large herd of elk (not the Yellow
stone National park herd) which is threatened
with determination under present conditions.
The addition of about 1850 square miles to Sc
quota National park and the change of the name
TO Roosevelt The proposed addition lies to the
north and east and includes the canons of the
Kings and Kern rivers and the west slope and the
crest of Mount Whitney (145O1 feeO. The idea
is to make the enlarged park a national outdoor
memorial to Theodore Roosevelt.
The addition of the Diamond lake region to the
Crater Lake National park in Oregon The en-
largement lies to the north and would Increase
the mark from 249 square miles to $50 square miles
In the seven years since Secretary Lane took
charge of the department of the interior the at
tendance at the national parks has increased from
o52 in 1913 to $50 325 in 1919 The increase in
1919 was from 451 SOL. The 191S19 increase is es-
pecially significant. 1t was not due to increased
tourist railroad traffic. 1t due to the fact that
the American people turned out for vacation in
their own automobiles and three-quarterS of a mil
lion of them chose to go to the national parks. In
the u national parks where records were kept
Yellowstone, SequOia, Yosemite General Grant,
Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, Wind Cave, Mesa
Verde Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Lafayette and
Grand Canon-there were 563,511 visitors and
7,721 private cars. This means that approximate
Iy four-fifths were travelling in their own cars And
these cars came from all parts of the country.
Rocky Mountain with 1888 private cars and 169,-
492 visitors, attracted from every state in the
Union. Yellowstone saw cars from every state
cept two
While the national parks received the best kind
of advertising in the world--word of mouth rec
of this increased attendance is due to the publicity
methods of the national park service, which has
carried on fairly comprehensive campaign of ed
ucatiOn.
During these seven years congress has been in
duced to increase its annual appropriations for the
national parks fcom about $4,000 to about ST.
100000.
In general it may be said that the schools are
now beginning to appreciate the educational value
of the national parks rs museums of natural his
tory and object lessons of the process of earth
making; that the outdoor organizations are preach
ing their healthgiving Importance and that the
American people awakening to their recrea-
tional and economic value
National park enthusiasts feel that in this prog
ress Secretary Lane has had no small part and
that if his successor proves as good a friend Of
the national parks they will be indeed fortunate.
They will not be satisfied, however, until there
is a secretary Of national parks with seat in the
cabinet,