Our Public Lands

From Pelican Island, Florida, to Yosemite National Park in California, public lands belong to all of us. These lands make up almost one-third of all the land in the United States. That is more than 600 million acres! Public lands include:

• city and state parks you play in.

• greenways you walk and run on.

• national monuments that remind us of famous people or events.

• national forests to fish and hike in.

• national parks, where you can explore and camp.

• national seashores to swim and play in.

• national wildlife refuges, where you can watch protected birds and animals.

• military bases that protect our country. This week, The Mini Page learns more about our country’s public lands.

This land is your land

Presidents and Congress, and state and local governments, set aside public lands. National parks are just one kind of public land.

President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was a hunter, camper and explorer. On his trips, he saw how people were destroying the land. He worried about where songbirds would live without forests and grasslands.

Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909. He created the U.S. Forest Service to watch over our national forests.

He also created:

• five national parks

• 18 national monuments

• 51 national wildlife refuges

photo courtesy NPS

Central Park in New York City was America’s first great urban, or city, park. Visitors can play on its athletic fields and playgrounds and visit a zoo. Woods, lakes and grassy fields are set aside so people can escape from city sounds and sights.

Yellowstone National Park, in parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, was the world’s first national park. Congress created it in 1872.