Evening star., 1958-05-11
Nations Parks Expect
so Million Visitors

sixty million people win visit
Americas national parks thii
year. They win zee. among other
things. bears and buffalos
Gnow-tipped mountains. sunny
strands. the bones OF dino
saurs-and earth's biggest liv-
ing things.
The visitors win md their
National Park System. . a.
millionaire domain Of history
and beauty, bigger and better
than ever before.
The system now includes iSi
units scattered throughout the
states, Alaska. Puerto Rico,
Hawaii. and the Virgin Islands.
These units range In sire from
Alaska's Khtmai National Mon
ument with It's 2.ee7,5e0 acres,
10 the House Where Lincoln
Died In washington. d. c.
Added only this year, as a
gift from the National Geo.
graphic Society. was prehistoric
Russell Cave in Alabama, where
Stone Age Americans lived
5000 years ago.
Extends Invitation
Managing this vast domain
for its owners. the American
people. is Conrad L. Wirth. di-
rector OF the National Park
Service and a trustee Of the
National Geographic Society.
Writing in the May issue Of
the society's magazine, Direc-
tor Wirth urges Americans to
"come. use. and enjoy" their
property.
As q supplement to his arti-
Gle. the society has distributed
10 members q l0-color recrea-
tional map showing the ma
tional parks. monuments. and
shrines Of the United States
and adjoining Canada.
Mr.. Wirth reports that the
parks are getting more and
more popular. In 1928 they
drew 2.054.000 visitors. Last
year more than So million peo-
pie came. BY 1866, he estimates,
80 TO 100 million will be coming
each year.
Some like flowers, some like
snow and ice" Mr.. Wirth writes.
Some like snakes, though
most are amazed that we pro-
tect even rattlers. Everybody
likes bears - except the hun
dred or so who each year get
mauled or bitten for ignoring
our warnings against feeding
them"
Bears and other wilderness
creatures roam free and un-
afraid through the scenic sane
tuaries. When q deer strolls
down the highway. motorists
Jam on the brakes and spill
from their cars to take pictures.
The resulting roadblocks, called
animal Jams" by tolerant
rangers. are q familiar sight in
many Of the parks. So, too, are
prairie dogs, which sometimes
stand in a line along the road
to beg food.
Visitors with q taste for spec
tacular scenery may visit CAL
ifornia's giant sequoias or Z
fairyland grotto in Paradise
Glacier on Mount Rainier, in
the State Of Washington.
There sunlight filters through
the ice to tint the walls a
luminous blue. The Great Sand
Dunes National Monument in
Colorado has dunes with crests
up to 800 feet high, tallest in
the inland United States.
Old Faithful
Oregon's Crater Lake, hol-
lowed out by the explosion Of
Mount Mazama about $500 Be,
Is a blue-and-white paradise
during the winter. The 1896
foot lake is the Nations deep
est.
Lassen Volcanic National
Park in California boasts Las
sen Peak, a volcano that erupt-
ed In 1914 and 1915. Tongues
Of glowing lava crept 1000
feet down the slopes. The
fiery blast felled trees more
than 3 miles away.
For q dazzling minute
show, nothing tops Yellow
stones Old Faithful. This gey.
Der, tossing q column of hot
water some lis feet high on an
average Of once an hour, hasn't
missed an appearance in SO
years.
Old Faithful had a part in
the creation Of the national
parks. It was in the Yellow
stone area on September 10,
1870, that q group Of Is prom
inent campers who had seen
the roaring geysers agreed that
the wonderland must be pre-
served as a national park. Con-