Park Service marks 100 years

The National Park Service celebrated its 100th birthday Thursday with events across the U.S. including the a giant, living version of its emblem in Washington, D.C., a naturalization ceremony on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and an outdoor concert at Yellowstone National Park.

The centennial comes as the agency that manages national parks as well as historic places welcomes a new national monument and nature disrupted the party in the West.

Living emblem

More than 1,000 children and adults used brown, green and white umbrellas to create a living version of the park service emblem on the National Mall, which the agency photographed from a helicopter. The emblem contains elements symbolizing the major facets of the national park system. A Sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, mountains and water represent scenery and recreation and the arrowhead shape represents history and archaeology. The first 1,000 participants were allowed to keep their umbrellas and got T-shirts.

New monument

The park service’s newest national monument, Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine, was being readied to welcome its first visitors after President Barack Obama used his executive authority to create it 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. The monument’s creation was opposed by state lawmakers and critics who fear that it will hinder efforts to rebuild a forest-based economy in the region. Climate change

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell hiked to see the stunning view from the Hidden Lake Overlook in Montana’s Glacier National Park and met with scientists to learn more about how climate change could cause the park’s glaciers to disappear as soon as 2030. Jewell said climate change is a concern for the future of other national parks from Alaska to the Florida Everglades.

Free admission

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, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland offered free muledrawn boat rides Thursday.