Park Service marks centennial with new citizens
arrowhead shape represents history and archaeology. The first 1,000 participants were allowed to keep their umbrellas and got T-shirts commemorating the event.
The park service’s newest national monument, Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine, was being readied to welcome its first visitors since President Barack Obama used his executive authority to create it on Wednesday.
Donated by Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby, the expanse features views of Mount Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine.
Visitors are already allowed into the woods, which was open to the public before the designation. There currently is no fee.
The brochures for the monument are printed and signs are going up, and the National Park Passport Stamp beloved by park visitors is now available.
For a time, both fire and ice hindered travel into Yellowstone National Park on the park service’s centennial anniversary.
Authorities closed a portion of the popular Beartooth Highway to the park’s northeast entrance Wednesday night because of snow and ice from a summer snowstorm, but the road reopened Thursday morning.
At the other end of the park, a portion of the road leading to Yellowstone’s South Entrance remained closed because of a wildfire. Visitors heading to Thursday’s celebration and concert with Emmylou Harris and John Prine at the Roosevelt Arch from the south face an hour-long detour into Idaho.
The park service is offering free admission to all its sites through Sunday. They’re among 16 free days scheduled throughout the centennial year. Some parks are serving birthday cake and offering ranger talks for the occasion. The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland is offering free muledrawn boat rides Thursday.