• In Devils Postpile, in Devils Postpile• You can hike, you can hike• All the trails go downhill, all the trails go downhill• Ha-ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha

• In Devils Postpile, in Devils Postpile• You can fish, you can fish• You can catch your limit, in about a minute• Ha-ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha

• In Devils Postpile, in Devils Postpile• There are bears, there are bears• If you don’t store it, they will go for it• Ha-ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha

• In Devils Postpile, in Devils Postpile• You can swim, you can swim• The Rangers heat the water, the Rangers heat the water• Ha-ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha

The National Park Service

Yellowstone, established in 1872, is the first National Park in the world

Sequoia was second in 1890

Yosemite was third also in 1890

The National Park Service cares for 390 National Parks in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands...

Salem Maritime National Historic Site, MA

Before the Park Service was created, Parks were managed by the U.S. Calvary

They were then taken over by the Forest Service after its formation in 1905

They were then taken over by the Forest Service

after its formation in 1905

Buffalo Soldiers

• National Parks are formed from an act of Congress

• National Monuments are created by presidents under the American Antiquities act of 1906.

• The American Antiquities Act

• THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED, IN HIS DISCRECTION, TO DECLARE BY PUBLIC PROCLAMATION HISTORIC LANDMARKS, HISTORIC AND PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES, AND OTHER OBJECTS OF HISTORIC OR SCIENTIFIC INTEREST THAT ARE SITUATED UPON THE LANDS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO BE NATIONAL MONUMENTS…

• APPROVED, JUNE 8, 1906.

Devils Postpile National Monument was created by President Howard Taft by Proclamation in 1911

The Park Service was not formed until 1916. It came partly as a result of disputes over the

Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite.

• Organizations like the Sierra Club fought heavily against the Forest Service who supported the construction of the Dam.

• Once legislation was signed by president Wilson to build the Dam preservationist no longer trusted the Forest Service to protect national parks.

After seeing the problems associated with the management of Hetch Hetchy, 4 men went on a mission to form the

National Park Service

They wanted an organization that was solely committed to preserving and

protecting the resource

• J. Horace McFarland

• Frederick Law Olmsted Jr

• Horace M. Albright • (First Superintendent of the

worlds first National Park)

• Steven T. Mather(First Director of the National Park

Service)

• President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation creating the National Park Service to manage national parks and monuments in 1916

• Stephen Mather was appointed director the following year.

• The Organic Act• “….The service thus established shall promote and

regulate the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of the future generations.”

• signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916

• Once the National Park Service was established a uniform had to be made to distinguish it from the Forest Service and from visitors in the park.

• Over the years the uniform has changed. This is a picture of an NPS uniform in 1928

• There was a need for a new badge as well. The old badge worn by rangers in the parks read

Forest Reserve Ranger Department of Interior

• 1905-1920NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PERSONNEL

• Worn by most rangers, except Yellowstone National Park

2-inch diameter, sterling silver or nickel-plated

Gold badge made for Director Stephen T. Mather

• 1920-1930UNIFORMED PERSONNEL1920-1930 Permanent and temporary rangers

1920-1921 All other personnel

Flat, two-piece, nickle-plated (German silver after 1920)

• 1921-1928 and 1936-1960DIRECTORS AND SUPERINTENDENTS

• 1921-1928 Director and assistant directors

1936-1960 Superintendents

Gold filled

• 1921-1930CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEF RANGERS

• Flat, two-piece, gold-plated German silver

1968-1970

SUPERINTENDENTS Dapped, gold-filled sterling silver

PERSONNEL REQUIRED TO WEAR BADGE

Dapped, sterling silver, oxidized

• 1970-presentALL AUTHORIZED UNIFORMED PERSONNEL Dapped, gold-filled

• Stetson Hat Invented by• John B. Stetson in 1862

• Later Adopted by the military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

• The Hat Bands were later added• They had metal emblems of Sequoia Cones as

well as USNPS pressed on the front.

The National Park Service Emblem was originally a Giant Sequoia Cone

In 1949 a contest was held to create a new NPS emblem that better represented the bureau. The

winner’s idea was never used.

A suggestion by Dr. Aubrey Neasham of implementing an Arrowhead, was modified into

its modern symbol.

The Buffalo is a symbol of the first National Park Yellowstone as well as a symbol for all of the wildlife found in parks.

The Giant Sequoia tree is a symbol from Sequoia which is the world’s second national park and a representative of all the plant life of parks.

The Mountain represents scenery and natural resources.

The Arrowhead represents the cultural resources.

The Parks Today

• Currently the NPS has:– $2.4 billion annual budget– 286 million annual visits to National Parks…

• More than go to Disney attractions, Universal Studios and National Football League games -- combined

– 136 million annual visits to www.nps.gov– 84 million acres

There are:– Almost 200,000 students & 20,000 teachers in

Parks as Classroom Programs in 2000

– Habitat for 168 threatened or endangered species

– 1.5 million archeological sites

– 26,000 historic structures

• Friends Groups– Non-profit partners

– More than 150 support specific parks

– $15 million in support

• The Student Conservation Association 50 years of working with National

Parks

Committed Staff Working Hard for the Visitor

Concerns for the Future

• The proposed effects of global warming could have devastating effects on our parks.

• According to National Geographic News; Warmer temperatures and less precipitation are threats to many park plants and animals.

..

Global Warming is caused by an increase in Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and other green house gases.

These gases get trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and work as a blanket keeping in solar radiation.

Pollution from such things as cars and factories produce an excessive amount of greenhouse gases that our trees and other carbon sinks cannot absorb.

These gases stay in the atmosphere and trap heat that would normally have been released

A study by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports

that the much-loved landscapes ofYellowstoneYosemite

Glacier

Grand Teton

Bandelier Glen Canyon

Are all at major risk due to global climate change

North Cascades

Mount RainierDeath Valley

Golden Gate

Mesa Verde

Rocky Mountains

Warming may also spur more frequent and severe droughts and wildfires that could close parks or reduce

them to mere shells of their former grandeur.

• Rainbow Falls Fire 1992

• Glacier National Park (Boulder Glacier in 1932)

Glacier National Park (Boulder Glacier in 1988)

• Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910

• It is expected that by 2030 all of the Glaciers in Glacier National Park will be melted away.

• North Cascades National Park is also at risk.

Rivers such as the San Joaquin depend on the formations of glaciers to replenish them every

year.

The San Joaquin begins at Thousand Island Lake and is fed from snow pack run off from the Ritter Range

• If glaciers in places such as these do not form in the winter or do not last through out the summer, rivers like the San Joaquin could be in trouble.

• This would put California’s entire agricultural industry at risk.

Places such as Joshua Tree National Park face losing their name sake trees due to higher

temperatures

Temperature increases may make already-scorching parks like Zion and Death Valley too hot to be visited.

• Work together to reduce our Carbon

emissions on a personal level

• Lobby law makers about making

serious cuts to our nation’s emissions

What We Can Do Today

• A Weather Station was recently installed in our Soda Springs Meadow

• “The projects objective is to establish long-term hydro-climate monitoring so that seasonal patterns and fluctuations may be established.”

What Devils Postpile is Doing

• The station measures air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, surface radiation, and precipitation. It also has snow pillows which measures the snows weight and depth.

• Knowing this vital information will help scientists study Sierra Nevada hydrology, statewide weather patterns, or global climate change.

• National Parks are working hard to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

• The lands may be protected, but it does not make them safe.

Only us working together can save places such as these for future generations.