By Carol Godwin, Cycle Mania

“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. ... I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. ... You cannot improve on it.“  

— Theordore Roosevelt

Ok I admit it, I haven’t visited many of the 63 National Parks in the United States during my lifetime and probably won’t have time to visit them all before I leave this Earth, but…even without visiting them, I know deep in my soul, how important they are for our America. 

I grew up in Tucson, so I’m sure I visited Saguaro National Park at some point, but as a kid living amongst saguaros every day, I can’t remember being impressed one way or another at seeing some millions of saguaros there in the park. I probably was more interested in getting some sort of souvenir from the gift shop than hiking through the desert. As an adult, I see the value of protecting this slice of Sonoran Desert for future generations to experience and love. 

For a short time in my life, I lived on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and was lucky enough to easily hike to the edge and look into its vast expanse of eroded rock. There was a wide variety of fossils and evidence of prehistoric occupation found nearly everywhere, and I loved seeing the raptors using thermal uplifts to cross and surveil the canyon with just a few minute adjustments of their flight feathers. 

I didn’t visit Grand Canyon National Park proper until I was a teacher chaperoning a group of science club students on a hiking field trip there. My focus was entirely on making sure we didn’t lose any kids over the edge or into the gift shop without permission, but I certainly felt a sense of pride that this huge canyon was part of Arizona’s culture and that there were literally millions of people from all over the world who came here to Arizona, “The Grand Canyon State,” specifically to see our Grand Canyon.

“What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children’s children and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American, if he can travel at all, should see. Keep the Grand Canyon of Arizona as it is,”  

— Theodore Roosevelt

As a science teacher, I found it fascinating that the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon by starting at the top and cutting down to sea level. The continent there started at sea level, and was pushed up past the rapidly flowing river cutting determinedly to stay at sea level. As the continent rose and sank, numerous shallow seas covered most of Arizona and receded, leaving sandstone and limestone evidence behind, over and over. At least 40 unique seas left their rocky remains behind with the uplift, exposing the layered rock which defines the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon has some of the oldest exposed rock in the world, 1.8 billion years of the Earth’s geologic history. It also contains one of the largest geologic mysteries in the world: the great unconformity. 

The unconformity is a section of missing rock that was swept away by an unknown watery force which erased about 1.2 billion years’ worth of the continent’s history or about 25% of its total historical record in this area. What happened on Earth during this time? The continent was rising at an incredible rate of speed, forming the Grand Canyon in a mere 5-6 million years. Was there a meteorite that melted ice caps? Was there a massive flood running from the Idaho badlands that emptied into the sea via the land we now know as Arizona? What happened? What creatures lived here and…if Arizona has been covered and re-covered by seas, will it happen again? Questions like these let us think beyond our short human lives and add perspective and wonder to these fleeting lives of ours.

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” 

— Wallace Stegner

Many National Parks were chosen because of their unique and priceless geologic formations ranging from rich fossil beds to spectacular eroded canyons and badlands. This geologic activity was responsible for rich deposits of oil and gas formed from the prehistoric living things that passed before us, and it is these rich deposits of oil and gas that are currently threatening the Parks’ continuing existence. 

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln designated the land contained in Yosemite National Park to be preserved for public use. Yellowstone National Park, the very first National Park was, established by President Ulysses S. Grant, in 1872. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act, which allowed presidents to designate National Monuments for preservation of cultural, scientific or historic value. President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service in 1916. It has grown and developed into the diverse and enthusiastic cadre of Park Rangers we see today. 

Having passionate and educated Rangers dedicated to protecting these parks and other places allows us to experience and learn about our great country in ways that history books can never show us. Protecting these places leaves much for the future generations to learn about and enjoy, and maybe one day a geologist inspired by a school field trip will figure out what caused the Great Unconformity. 

Our natural spaces give people a place to push the pause button in their lives, let people breathe freely and think thoughts larger than themselves. Being able to experience the grandeur of a snowcapped mountain range, the intricacy of prehistoric cliff dwellings, the sounds of bull elk bugling in the mist and the sheen of a waterfall cascading off a cliff is part of what makes life worthwhile and cements a feeling of ownership into the future of our great country. Giving the public ownership of these vast parcels of land allows all of us to enjoy our amazing country, our amazing land of the free, our America the beautiful, from sea to shining sea.

“The establishment of the National Park Service is justified by considerations of good administration, of the value of natural beauty as a National asset, and of the effectiveness of outdoor life and recreation in the production of good citizenship.” — President Theordore Roosevelt

The question that we need to confront head-on is the question regarding the value of preserving these natural reserves for future generations to make use of verses taking these reserves now and leaving a man-made unconformity of missing resources. Some well-known National Parks currently being depleted of their natural oil and gas reserves, and threatened by the accompanying air and water pollution of the mining activities are Chaco National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Carlsbad Cavern National Park, Sequoia National Park and many more National Monuments and preserves. 

The current administration is determined to use every bit of the economic value of the Parks, up to and including selling the land to private investors. Once sold, our National Parks will irrevocably no longer belong to the citizens of the United States and their riches will not profit the citizen majority. Oil, gas and tourism dollars will no longer benefit the United States as a whole, or the individual States to which the Parks now add incredible benefit, and instead, will go into private, often foreign pockets. This is not the America that our founding fathers and great early presidents saw for the future of the United States.

“There is nothing so American as our national parks.... The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us.”  

— President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Arizona has three National Parks, six National Forests, 33 State Parks and many other protected areas. Last year, in Arizona alone, the three National Parks generated $1.2 billion dollars and over 17,000 jobs, adding to the state economy. Grand Canyon National Park received 4.7 million visitors in 2024, who spent a combined 768 million dollars in nearby communities, supported over 10,000 local jobs and contributed over a billion dollars to Arizona’s economy. The US has 63 National Parks, 154 National Forests, 131 National Monuments and 6,600 individual State Parks. National Parks are also a significant part of the United States economy, generating 55.6 billion dollars in 2023, and creating over 400,000 park and tourism related jobs.

To say that Americans value their communally owned land is clear and part of what makes America a place people from all over the world want to visit and admire. Giving us, the public, ownership of these vast parcels of land allows all of us to enjoy our amazing country. Our amazing land of the free, our America the beautiful, our purple mountains majesty. Our America belongs to Americans and should benefit every one of us well into the future. Shortsightedly selling off our national treasures cannot be tolerated or accepted as part of the economic future of the United States. Foreign entities should never have ownership of these “crown jewels” of America. We have plenty of land, plenty of already available resources for our current needs, and the parks generate vastly more income than they cost to maintain. We owe it to future American citizens to fight to protect our National Parks, Monuments and Forests and keep them for the people, of the people and by the people.

As Americans, when we see our National Parks under unnecessary and unreasonable threat of privatization, we have a duty to speak up and protect our national treasures, our lands, our futures. If we allow our land to be divided up and passed out to corporations for exploitation, future generations will deal with another Great Unconformity of sorts with chunks of our natural and cultural history and great stores of energy resources erased in trade for short-term private gain. Future generations will wonder why we allowed such a thing to happen and will wonder where Lincoln’s grand idea went wrong. 

This land is my land. This land is your land, this land belongs to you and me… — Arlo Guthrie

As I said before, I’ve never been to Yellowstone, but the rumbling caldera it is built on, releasing pent up geothermal heat through hot springs and geysers is another peek into the continuing geologic forces shaping the continents. A huge geothermal energy plant covering “Old Faithful” would provide energy to power more cities built nearby on meadows currently inhabited by a fraction of the bison who roamed the plains by the millions before America was even a thought. Is it worth it? Do we sacrifice what’s wild and unique about America so that there can be more homes, more factories and more wealth, or are our citizen-owned natural places more valuable than they are? To me, the answer is obvious. To the 332 million National Park visitors in 2024, the answer is obvious, and to any kid, the answer is obvious. Save our irreplaceable National Parks and their rangers. Even if you don’t use them, think of those who will. 

“Our parks are our crown jewels, important places not just for out-of-state visitors, but they are here in our backyard! It’s really important for people to know what they can do to help keep them safe — protect and support them.” — Roger Naylor

Note: Renowned travel author Roger Nayor is coming to the White Mountain Nature Center on Saturday, June 14th to talk about state and National Parks and to discuss his adventures in them. He will discuss his new book, Arizona’s National Parks and Monuments. This event is scheduled at the White Mountain Nature Center in Lakeside, Arizona, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Members and children under 12 are free, non-members are $5.