The political geography of National Parks
Dilsaver LM and Wyckoff W. 2005. The political geography of National Parks. Pacific Historical Review. 74(2):237-266
Many national parks contain private lands and non-park economic functions that can interfere with management purposes. The number and variety of these "threats" depend on the degee to which the boundary of a new park encloses previously settled lands and economic development. Yellowstone is the only example of a major park established before European American settlement; it is largely free of inholdings and non-park uses. By contrast, Glacier National Park, founded in 1910, and Mojave National Preserve, created in 1994, unavoidably incorporated private lands and previous uses. Despite vigorous National Park Service efforts to eliminate them, many remain, and even those removed have left a landscape legacy. The temporal and spatial relationships shown by these latter parks exemplify those found throughout the national park system and suggest parallels with the political creation of nation-states.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Dilsaver, Lary; Wyckoff, William
- Units
- CRCO , GLAC
- Keywords
- economic development, Glacier National Park, Land Use, Mojave National Preserve, National Park Service history, National Park System, Park Boundaries, park inholdings, political geography, Private Lands