Study Guide: Humans, Animals, and National Parks
1. Introduction to National Parks
- Yellowstone (1872): First U.S. National Park, originally managed by the Army; established to protect geothermal features.
- Banff (1885): Canada’s first national park; established for tourism, not wildlife.
- Mt. Mitchell (1915): First North Carolina State Park, created to stop logging degradation.
Was it created for the love of wilderness?
- National Park Service (1916): Created by the Organic Act, signed by Woodrow Wilson; Stephen Mather was the first director.
Key Figures:
- John Muir: Advocated for preservation, influenced Theodore Roosevelt.
- Theodore Roosevelt: Conservationist president; Antiquities Act (1906) gave presidents power to declare National Monuments.
- Gifford Pinchot – Founder of the Forest Service, Advisor to Teddy Roosevelt and Frenemy of Muir - Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Advocated for Everglades preservation, leading to Everglades
National Park (1947).
2. Laws and Policies
- National Parks Organic Act (1916): Established the National Park Service.
- Endangered Species Act (1973): Protects ecosystems and endangered species; enforced by U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service.
- Wilderness Act (1964): Established the National Wilderness Preservation System; protects
over 112 million acres.
- Leopold Report (1963): Shifted NPS toward ecological preservation.
- Antiquities Act (1906): Allowed presidents to designate National Monuments.
3. Human History & Cultural Connections
- Indigenous communities lived in national park lands for thousands of years before often being
displaced.
- Many parks were once hunting grounds for royalty or wealthy elites. (Goats of Olympic
National Park)
- Increasing urbanization and tourism (early 1900s) fueled park visitation.
- Current debates continue over land use, local control vs. federal oversight (e.g., Buffalo National River conflicts in Arkansas which we will cover on Tuesday).
4. Natural, Historical & Cultural Resources
- Definition: The NPS protects 'resources,' which can be natural, historical, or cultural.
- Example: Denali NP started with geological protection but expanded to cultural/historical resources.
Exam Prep Prompts:
- How is the gray wolf a natural, historical, and cultural resource?
- Give 2 ways wilderness preservation benefits humans and explain how it also benefits other
species.
5. Environmental Challenges
- Dam Removal (Elwha River, 2011): Restored salmon runs and river ecology.
- Poaching (Zambia): Wire snares for bushmeat harm non-target species like lions.
- Agriculture & Tourism Pressures: Seen at Kruger NP (South Africa) and Smoky Mountains
NP (Tennessee).
- Climate Change: Political controversy—Dr. Maria Caffery pressured to remove climate
references from NPS report (2018).
- Land Conflicts: Malheur NWR occupation (2016); Buffalo River protests against
redesignation.
6. Humans, Animals, and the Parks
- Human-Animal Bond: Explored through geography, psychology, sociology, etc.
- Preservation vs Conservation:
* Preservation: minimal human impact.
* Conservation: sustainable use of resources.
- Grizzly Bears:
* Found in Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Teton.
* Population decline from historic to current range; ~1,000 remain in Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem.
* High visitor interest; controversial protection status.
Discussion Prompts:
- Why do we care more about 'charismatic megafauna' (e.g., grizzlies) than other species?
- Should severely injured wildlife be euthanized by park rangers?
7. Structure & Governance of NPS
- Parent Department: U.S. Department of the Interior.
- Budget: ~$17.6 billion (FFY 2025).
- Leadership: Secretary of the Interior is a Cabinet position; influences park management.
Overarching Themes
1. Human, Animal, and Park Relationships
• Coexistence challenges: danger, habitat alteration, balancing access vs preservation.
• Conservation includes species reintroduction, invasive control, hunting regulation,
climate/development management.
Subsistence & Indigenous Perspectives
• Parks overlap ancestral homelands (Inupiaq, Athabascan, Cherokee, Māori, Bemba,
San/Bantu).
• Issues: subsistence rights, cultural survival, land management.
2. U.S. NATIONAL PARKS
• Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve (Alaska)
o Second-largest U.S. national park (+8M acres), no roads/trails.
o Inupiaq & Athabascan homelands.
o Bob Marshall's writings influential; ANILCA (1980) expanded protections.
o Wildlife: major large mammal diversity; caribou herds >200,000.
o Issues: Ambler Road mining corridor, pipeline debates.
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
o Most visited USNP (~12M visitors).
o Cherokee ancestral lands.
o 5 Life Zones: pine-oak, mesic hardwood, hemlock, northern hardwood, sprucefir.
o Fauna: Roughly 1,500 black bears; elk reintroduced (2002).
o Issues: bear jams, roadkill, development.
• Yellowstone National Park
o First USNP est.1872; protected for geothermal features and tourism.
o Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is roughly the size of Indiana.
o Bison: >4,000 animals; slaughter & transfer programs.
o Wolves: reintroduced 1995–96; ~100 wolves in park; hunting debates
outside park.
o Coyote ecology; predator–livestock conflict i.e: “depredation”.
• Blue Ridge Parkway
o Grazing permits, white-nose syndrome in bats.
o Historical figures: Kephart & Masa key to Smokies formation.
3. INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL PARKS
• Fiordland National Park (New Zealand)
o Māori arrived ~1300 years ago; Europeans ~1600s onward.
o NZ had no native land mammals except 2 bats.
o Moa hunted to extinction within ~200 years.
o Invasive predators devastate native birds; DOC manages parks.
o Predator Free 2050: eradication vs control debate.
• Kruger National Park (South Africa)
o Established 1926; fully fenced (>500 miles).
o Human history: San → Bantu → Dutch/British & Apartheid.
o Black & white rhinos reintroduced; decline from poaching/drought.
• Why are white rhinos easier to reintroduce?
o Lions: roughly 1,500 in region; Africa-wide decline.
o Wildlife monitoring: aerial surveys, GPS/radio, genetics, mark–recapture.
o Water management: artificial waterholes reconsidered.
• Luangwa National Parks (Zambia)
o Major wildlife corridor; unfenced parks with surrounding villages.
o Elephants: 250,000 → 18,000 (1975–1990); some recovery North Luangwa.
o Black rhinos: extinct locally by 1990; reintroduced with heavy protection.
o African wild dogs: endangered; threats include snares, habitat loss.
o Norman Carr pioneered walking safaris; tourism funds conservation.
o Local communities coexist with dangerous wildlife; long travel distances.