1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
–
The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
National park
–
A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
3.
South Dakota
–
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, South Dakota is the 17th most expansive, but the 5th least populous and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Once the southern portion of the Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2,1889, Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls, with a population of about 171,000, is South Dakotas largest city. South Dakota is bordered by the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, the state is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing South Dakota into two geographically and socially distinct halves, known to residents as East River and West River. Eastern South Dakota is home to most of the states population, West of the Missouri, ranching is the predominant agricultural activity, and the economy is more dependent on tourism and defense spending. Most of the Native American reservations are located in West River, the Black Hills, a group of low pine-covered mountains sacred to the Sioux, are located in the southwest part of the state. Mount Rushmore, a major tourist destination, is located there, South Dakota experiences a temperate continental climate, with four distinct seasons and precipitation ranging from moderate in the east to semi-arid in the west. The ecology of the state features species typical of a North American grassland biome, humans have inhabited the area for several millennia, with the Sioux becoming dominant by the early 19th century. In the late 19th century, European-American settlement intensified after a rush in the Black Hills. Encroaching miners and settlers triggered a number of Indian wars, ending with the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, historically dominated by an agricultural economy and a rural lifestyle, South Dakota has recently sought to diversify its economy in areas to attract and retain residents. South Dakotas history and rural character still strongly influence the culture of the state, South Dakota is situated in the north-central United States, and is considered a part of the Midwest by the U. S. Census Bureau, it is also part of the Great Plains region. The culture, economy, and geography of western South Dakota have more in common with the West than the Midwest, South Dakota has a total area of 77,116 square miles, making the state the 17th largest in the Union. Black Elk Peak, formerly named Harney Peak, with an elevation of 7,242 ft, is the states highest point, while the shoreline of Big Stone Lake is the lowest, with an elevation of 966 ft. South Dakota is bordered to the north by North Dakota, to the south by Nebraska, to the east by Iowa and Minnesota, the geographical center of the U. S. is 17 miles west of Castle Rock in Butte County. The North American continental pole of inaccessibility is located between Allen and Kyle,1,024 mi from the nearest coastline, the Missouri River is the largest and longest river in the state. Other major South Dakota rivers include the Cheyenne, James, Big Sioux, Eastern South Dakota has many natural lakes, mostly created by periods of glaciation. Additionally, dams on the Missouri River create four large reservoirs, Lake Oahe, Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case, South Dakota can generally be divided into three regions, eastern South Dakota, western South Dakota, and the Black Hills. The Missouri River serves as a boundary in terms of geographic, social, at times the Black Hills are combined with the rest of western South Dakota, and people often refer to the resulting two regions divided by the Missouri River as West River and East River
4.
Rapid City, South Dakota
–
Rapid City is the second-largest city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, on which the city is established, the population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Known as the Gateway to the Black Hills and the City of Presidents, Ellsworth Air Force Base is located on the outskirts of the city. Camp Rapid, a part of the South Dakota Army National Guard, is located in the part of the city. The historic Old West town of Deadwood is nearby, in the neighboring Black Hills are the popular tourist attractions of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and Wind Cave National Park. The public discovery of gold in 1874 by the Black Hills Expedition brought an influx of settlers into the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Rapid City was founded, and originally known as Hay Camp, in 1876 by a group of disappointed miners, who promoted their new city as the Gateway to the Black Hills. John Richard Brennan and Samuel Scott, with a group of men, laid out the site of the present Rapid City in February 1876. A square mile was measured off and the six blocks in the center were designated as a business section, committees were appointed to bring in prospective merchants and their families to locate in the new settlement. The city soon began selling supplies to miners and pioneers and its location on the edge of the Plains and Hills and its large river valley made it the natural hub of railroads arriving in the late 1880s from both the south and east. By 1900, Rapid City had survived a boom and bust and was establishing itself as an important regional center for the upper midwest. The work was halted due to leading to the US entry into World War II. The city benefited greatly from the opening of Rapid City Army Air Base, later Ellsworth Air Force Base, as a result, the population of the area nearly doubled between 1940 and 1948, from almost 14,000 to nearly 27,000 people. Military families and civilian personnel soon took every available living space in town, Rapid City businesses profited from the military payroll. During the Cold War, missile installations proliferated in the area, in the early 60s the construction of three Titan missile launch sites containing a total of nine Titan I missiles in the general vicinity of Rapid City took place. A construction boom continued into the 1950s, growth slowed in the 1960s, but the worst natural disaster in South Dakota history, the Black Hills Flood, led to another building boom a decade later. On June 9,1972, heavy rains caused flooding of the Rapid Creek. More than 250 people lost their lives and more than $100 million in property was destroyed, new homes and businesses were constructed to replace those that had been destroyed
5.
National Park Service
–
It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
6.
Mount Rushmore
–
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, a batholith in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota, United States. The memorial park covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level, robinsons initial idea was to sculpt the Needles, however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles because of the poor quality of the granite and strong opposition from Native American groups. They settled on Mount Rushmore, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Robinson wanted it to feature American West heroes like Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud, and Buffalo Bill Cody, after securing federal funding through the enthusiastic sponsorship of Mount Rushmores great political patron, U. S. Senator Peter Norbeck, construction on the began in 1927. Upon Gutzon Borglums death in March 1941 his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction, each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist. Lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941, Mount Rushmore has become an iconic symbol of the United States, and it has appeared in works of fiction, as well as being discussed or depicted in other popular works. It attracts over two million visitors annually, originally known to the Lakota Sioux as The Six Grandfathers, the mountain was renamed after Charles E. Rushmore, a prominent New York lawyer, during an expedition in 1885. At first, the project of carving Rushmore was undertaken to increase tourism in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, after long negotiations involving a Congressional delegation and President Calvin Coolidge, the project received Congressional approval. The carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941 with no fatalities, as Six Grandfathers, the mountain was part of the route that Lakota leader Black Elk took in a spiritual journey that culminated at Black Elk Peak. Following a series of campaigns from 1876 to 1878, the United States asserted control over the area. Among American settlers, the peak was known variously as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and it was named Mount Rushmore during a prospecting expedition by Charles Rushmore, David Swanzey, and Bill Challis. Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota, in 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure the carving could be accomplished. The original plan was to make the carvings in granite pillars known as the Needles, however, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a location, partly because it faced southeast. Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, America will march along that skyline, Congress authorized the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission on March 3,1925. President Coolidge insisted that, along with Washington, two Republicans and one Democrat be portrayed and these presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. The carving of Mount Rushmore involved the use of dynamite, followed by the process of honeycombing, in total, about 450,000 short tons of rock were blasted off the mountainside
7.
Crazy Horse Memorial
–
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse, the memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a private non-profit organization, the memorial consists of the mountain carving, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, the sculptures final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high, by comparison, the monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the worlds largest sculpture as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967, Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U. S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and his most famous actions against the U. S. military included the Fetterman Fight and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He surrendered to U. S. troops under General Crook in May 1877 and was wounded by a military guard. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and was honored by the U. S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ postage stamp, that is part of its Great Americans series. In October 1931, Luther Standing Bear, Henrys older brother, wrote sculptor Gutzon Borglum, Luther suggested that it would be most fitting to have the face of Crazy Horse sculpted there. Crazy Horse is the real patriot of the Sioux tribe and the one worthy to place by the side of Washington. Thereafter, Henry Standing Bear began a campaign to have Borglum carve an image of Crazy Horse on Mt. Rushmore, on November 7,1939, Henry Standing Bear wrote to the Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who worked on Mount Rushmore under Gutzon Borglum. He informed the sculptor, My fellow chiefs and I would like the man to know that the red man has great heroes. The government responded positively, and the National Forest Service, responsible for the land, agreed to grant a permit for the use of the land, with a commission to oversee the project. Standing Bear chose not to government funds and relied instead upon influential Americans interested in the welfare of the American Indian to privately fund the project. In the spring of 1940, Ziolkowski spent three weeks with Standing Bear at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, discussing land issues and learning about Crazy Horse. According to Ziolkowski, Standing Bear grew very angry when he spoke of the broken Treaty of Fort Laramie and that was the one Id read about in which the President promised the Black Hills would belong to the Indians forever. I remember how his old eyes flashed out of dark mahogany face, then he would shake his head
8.
Black Hills
–
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to 7,244 feet, is the ranges highest summit, the Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest. The name Black Hills is a translation of the Lakota Pahá Sápa, the hills were so-called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees. Native Americans have a history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne in 1776, the Lakota took over the territory of the Black Hills, however, when settlers discovered gold there in 1874, as a result of George Armstrong Custers Black Hills Expedition, miners swept into the area in a gold rush. As the economy of the Black Hills has shifted from natural resources since the late 20th century, locals tend to divide the Black Hills into two areas, The Southern Hills and The Northern Hills. Attractions in the Northern Hills include Spearfish Canyon, historic Deadwood, the first Rally was held on August 14,1938 and the 75th Rally in 2015 saw more than 1 million bikers visit the Black Hills. Devils Tower National Monument, located in the Wyoming Black Hills, is an important nearby attraction and was the United States first national monument. Scientists have been able to utilize carbon-dating to evaluate the age of tools found in the area, stratigraphic records indicate environmental changes in the land, such as flood and drought patterns. For example, large-scale flooding of the Black Hill basins occurs at a probability rate of 0.01, however, during The Medieval Climate Anomaly, or the Medieval Warm Period, flooding increased in the basins. The Arikara arrived by AD1500, followed by the Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, the Lakota arrived from Minnesota in the 18th century and drove out the other tribes, who moved west. They claimed the land, which they called Ȟe Sápa, the mountains commonly became known as the Black Hills. François and Louis de La Vérendrye probably travelled near the Black Hills in 1743, fur trappers and traders had some dealings with the Native Americans. European Americans increasingly encroached on Lakota territory, in this treaty, they protected the Black Hills forever from European-American settlement. Both the Sioux and Cheyenne also claimed rights to the land, saying that in their cultures, it was considered the axis mundi, an official announcement of gold was made by the newspaper reporters accompanying the expedition. The following year, the Newton-Jenney Party conducted the first detailed survey of the Black Hills, the surveyor for the party, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, was the first European American to ascend to the top of Black Elk Peak. This highest point in the Black Hills is 7,242 feet above sea level, during the 1875–1878 gold rush, thousands of miners went to the Black Hills, in 1880, the area was the most densely populated part of the Dakota Territory. Three large towns developed in the Northern Hills, Deadwood, Central City, around these were groups of smaller gold camps, towns, and villages
9.
Bear Butte
–
Bear Butte is a geological laccolith feature located near Sturgis, South Dakota, United States, that was established as a State Park in 1961. An important landmark and religious site for the Plains Indians tribes long before Europeans reached South Dakota, Bear Butte is called Mathó Pahá, or Bear Mountain, by the Lakota, or Sioux. The mountain is sacred to many peoples, who make pilgrimages to leave prayer cloths. Other offerings are left at the top of the mountain. The site is associated with religious ceremonies throughout the year. The mountain is a place of prayer, meditation, and peace, the park includes a campsite south of South Dakota Highway 34 where horseback riding, fishing, and boating are permitted. On the summit side of Highway 34, a moderately sized herd of buffalo roams the base of the mountain, an education center and a summit trail are available. Official park policy advises visitors to Bear Butte to respect worshipers, Park fees are waived for those undertaking religious activities. This would cost more than $1 million, but would prevent development of businesses on ranch land near the mountain on the northern edge of the Black Hills. Bear Butte is not strictly a butte, but a laccolith, a body of igneous rock, uplifting the earlier sedimentary layers. This is the result of the entry of magma into cooler crustal rock in the Black Hills area during the Eocene Epoch. In this, Bear Butte shares a similar history with other formations in the region, including the Black Hills, Devils Tower, the Missouri Buttes. It is possible that when the intrusion was emplaced, some magma may have breached the surface, forming a volcano, however, the peak rises 1,253.5 feet above the surrounding plain and is 4,426 feet above sea level. Human artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long, the Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history. Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site, in 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills. Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills, Ezra Bovee homesteaded on the southern slopes of the mountain, and by the time of World War II, he and his family were the legal owners of the site
10.
Black Elk Peak
–
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, the peak lies 3.7 mi WSW of Mount Rushmore. At 7,242 feet, it has described by the Board on Geographical Names as the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. It is also known as Hinhan Kaga, the Federal Board of Geographic Names has designated it Black Elk Peak. Guadalupe Peak and Sierra Blanca also lie far to the east of the Continental Divide and are substantially higher, but they are located south of the Rockies. Professional but unofficial measurements in 2016 found the highest natural rock to be at 7,231.32 feet NAVD88 and this peak was called Hinhan Kaga by the Lakota Sioux). They dominated this region and occupied the territory at the time of European colonization and they considered it a sacred site within the Black Hills, which they call Pahá Sápa, also written He Sapa. The mountain was named Harney Peak in 1855 by American Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren in honor of US General William S. Harney, Harney later commanded the United States military in the Black Hills area in the late 1870s. The Lakota have tried to get the name of the peak changed for 50 years, in 2014 the Sioux renewed their effort to get the name changed, in an effort led by Basil Brave Heart of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. A Korean War veteran, he felt that Harney had not honored the military with his action, some Lakota requested state officials in 2015 to reinstate their original name Hinhan Kaga for the peak. He became known beyond the Lakota in part through the book Black Elk Speaks, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard opposed the name change, as did other state officials, and no action was taken in 2015. Board on Geographic Names officially changed the name from Harney Peak to Black Elk Peak on August 11,2016, by a unanimous vote of 12–0. On August 18,2016, Gov. Daugaard announced that the state would accept the new name, American settlement was concentrated east of the river, where there was more water for farming. The first Americans believed to have reached the summit were a party led by General George Armstrong Custer in 1874, the federal government took back the Black Hills and another strip of land in a new treaty in 1877. More than a later, it broke up the Great Sioux Reservation in 1889 into five smaller reservations. The government made some 9 million acres of former Lakota land available for purchase for ranching and homesteading, most American settlement in West River did not start until the early 20th century. The area attracted many European immigrants as well as migrants from the East, Harney Peak is the site where Black Elk received his Great Vision when nine years old. He later became a man known for his wisdom
11.
Jewel Cave National Monument
–
Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the third longest cave in the world, with 181.89 miles of mapped passageways. It is located approximately 13 mi west of the town of Custer in South Dakotas Black Hills and it became a national monument in 1908. Frank and Albert Michaud, two prospectors, discovered the cave in 1900, when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole in a canyon. It is unknown whether any previous inhabitants of the area were aware of the cave opening. After enlarging the cave entrance with dynamite, the Michauds found a cavern lined with calcite crystals, the brothers tried to capitalize on the discovery, widening the opening, building walkways inside, and opening it to tourists. Although their venture was unsuccessful, news of the discovery eventually reached Washington, president Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Jewel Cave a National Monument on February 7,1908. The area around the entrance to the cave was further developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The National Park Service assumed management of the monument in 1933, as recently as 1959, less than 2 miles of passageway had been discovered. That year, however, Herb and Jan Conn, local climbers, began exploring. Much of the new discoveries lay outside the boundaries of the monument, the two agencies performed a land swap in 1965, establishing the present boundaries of the park, and enabling the development of a new part of the cave. The Park Service sunk a 300 feet elevator shaft to a remote cave area. The Scenic Tour was opened in 1972, most modern-day visitors tour that part of the cave. In August 2000, an 83,000 acres forest fire burned 90% of the monument, the visitor center and historic buildings were spared. By 1979, Herb and Jan Conn had discovered, named, although they largely retired from caving by the early 1980s, exploration has continued unabated. Because the areas being explored take many hours to reach, explorers now sometimes camp in the cave during expeditions of as long as four days, the cave is mapped by traditional survey techniques, using compass, clinometer and today with lasers instead of tape measures. Its 181.89 mi of mapped passageway make Jewel Cave the third longest cave in the world, after Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky and Sistema Sac Actun at the Yucatán Peninsula, at 198 mi. The discovered areas in the account for only about 3 to 5% of the estimated total air volume of the cave. The cave volume is estimated by measuring the amount of air that the cave exhales when the air pressure drops
12.
National Monument (United States)
–
Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department. National monuments can be so designated through the power of the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins, the Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature, in 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Katmai were among the national monuments later converted to national parks by Congress. Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller, roosevelts proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, the proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This action was unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the presidents authority. To date, none of them have been enacted, presidents have used the Antiquities Acts proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938, lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. Marine National Monument List of U. S. National Forests List of areas in the National Park System of the United States List of U. S
.jpg)
_Eocene.JPG)
Media from Wikimedia Commons
Travel guide from Wikivoyage
