National Parks

Landmark Agreement Boosts Native Ecosystems On Point Reyes

January 18, 2025 Erik Molvar, Counter Punch. Create! California, Land Conservation, Legal System, National Parks

A historic agreement has just been struck to settle a decades-long land-use conflict over the future of cattle and wildlife on Point Reyes National Seashore. Under the deal, most of the beef and dairy ranches on Point Reyes National Seashore will depart, and former ranch lands will be managed as a Scenic Landscape Zone according to a new General Management Plan approved by the National Park Service. Tule elk will have the freedom to roam unmolested throughout Point Reyes National Seashore, opportunities for public recreation will improve, and the land will have the opportunity to return to native coastal grassland.

National Parks Are More Than Scenic − They’re Sacred

November 28, 2023 Thomas S. Bremer, Portside. Educate! History, Indigenous Rights, Manifest Destiny, National Parks, Sacred sites

Abraham Lincoln has an almost saintly place in U.S. history: the “Great Emancipator” whose leadership during the Civil War preserved the Union and abolished slavery. Often overlooked among his achievements is legislation he signed June 30, 1864, during the thick of the war – but only marginally related to the conflict. The Yosemite Valley Grant Act preserved the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove in California as a park “held for public use, resort, and recreation … for all time.” It was the first time the federal government had set aside land for its scenic value, and it created a model for U.S. national parks, which are themselves hallowed sites in American culture.

Yellowstone Tour Guides Are Building Momentum For Change

July 7, 2022 Mike Elk and Rachel Phua, Capital and Main. Organize! Labor Unions, National Parks, Worker Rights, Yellowstone

Recently, former President Obama launched a Netflix series celebrating national parks and their breathtaking views. One of the parks he zoomed in on was the 2.2 million acre Yellowstone National Park, describing it as a park that is “fundamental to our national identity.” But underneath the beauty of Yellowstone lies an ugly history of union-busting and intimidation by government contractors of National Park Service workers, the ones who labor to keep the park beautiful — a legacy that Obama failed to curb as president and one that Joe Biden has yet to address as the current occupant of the White House.

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