Like myself, I am sure most of your adventure travelers could use a little bit of good news right about now. While this isn’t necessarily breaking news, I do have some very good news to share with you none-the-less. As of December 27, 2020, the United States has a brand new national park. New River Gorge in the state of West Virginia has become West Virginia’s first national parkland and the nation’s 63rd protected land to get the national park designation.
White Sands is one of the most stunning landscapes in the United States. Not only is it the largest collection of sand dunes in the United States, but the beautiful white, gypsum sand dunes are also some of the most unique sand dunes found anywhere in the world. While gypsum is one of the most common minerals on the planet, because it easily dissolves in water, it is very rarely found on the surface of the ground. These unique and amazing traits made White Sands worthy of becoming a National Monument back in 1933.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the news concerning the US national parks lately, you may not be aware that there is a growing problem in the parks system. They are becoming far too popular and far too easy to access. Now, you may be wondering how the parks being too popular and too easy to access are problems, and on the surface I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that. The parks should be enjoyed by people and they should be accessible to everyone. However, only to a certain extent and I explain why.
The month of February has brought some very big news for the national parks system in the United States. This month, the United States National Parks Service announced the addition of a new national park. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore has officially been designated as America’s 61st national park. This is great news for all of those who love beautiful places and want to see those places preserved.
National Parks and Conservation Areas are dangerous? This may sound counter-intuitive at first thought, but if you see what is happening in Isle Royal National Park in the United States, the Gir Forest National Park in India, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, it may make more sense.
Conservation should be the first priority, and that means sometimes we need to make sacrifices to ensure that these national treasures are preserved for future generations.