Click to Return to Beginning		THE NATIONAL PARKS AND EMERGENCY CONSERVATION NATIONAL PARK IDEALS AND STANDARDS National parks, always created by act of Congress, are reserved because of some unusual quality or natural wonder, or some historic or scientific feature of national interest. In the field of natural wonders, each park represents the highest type of its particular feature, and duplication of the major features of existing national parks is avoided in enlarging the system. It is important always that each park be sufficiently large to allow of adequate development from the tourist standpoint. In establishing national parks no thought is given to geographic location. The area proposed for national park use is considered primarily from the standpoint of whether or not its principal features are of broad, national interest. No consideration of commercialism enters into park creation. The major function is the promotion of the well-being of Americans through the health-giving qualities of inspiration, relaxation, and recreation in pure, unpolluted air, in natural surroundings of inspiring grandeur. Many of the parks contain noble forests, but the trees are preserved for their beauty and never considered as lumber. It is a strange fact, but often the trees that add most to the beauty of the landscape in reality have no commercial value. Bear Feeding Grounds, Yellowstone National Park There are wild animals in abundance, but they never are considered from the standpoint of food supply. All hunting is forbidden except that called in park parlance "hunting with the camera." Many an erstwhile hunter, having laid down his gun for a camera while in a park, never cares to shoulder a gun again. The gentle-eyed deer becomes a friend, not an intended victim. There are great waterfalls, but they are never harnessed. Outside the parks are more than enough falls to supply the power needs of the Nation. Those in the parks feed man's hunger for beauty–a demand that, long denied, seems stifled; but that given a chance in the unmarred outdoors thrives and increases and gives man a broader outlook on life.
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