User:TimothyBlue/ws/National Parks in California

There are nine national parks located in the state of managed by the . National parks protect significant scenic areas and nature reserves, provide educational programs, community service opportunities, and are an important part of conservation efforts in the United States. There are several other locations inside of California managed by the National Park Service, but carry other designations such as National Monuments. Many of the national parks in California are also part of or wildlife refuges, and contain Native American Heritage Sites and National Monuments.

Parks

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands National Park was established on March 5, 1980 and is located on five of the eight off the coast of California; all of the islands are located in except Anacapa Island which is located in . The park covers a total area of almost Template:Convert. The National Park Service works with various organizations to host educational, conservation, and scientific programs at the park. The five islands which comprise the park are:

is the largest island in California and largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands archipelago. It forms part of the northern group of the Channel Islands. Santa Cruz is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide with an area of over Template:Convert.

is the farthest west of the Channel Islands; it is the sixth-largest of the eight Channel Islands covering over Template:Convert, including offshore islands and rocks. Prince Island, Template:Convert off the northeastern coast, measures Template:Convert in area. The island, at its farthest extent, is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide.

is the second largest of the Channel Islands covering over Template:Convert. Santa Rosa island is located about Template:Convert off the coast of . The terrain consists of rolling hills, canyons, and a coastal lagoon. The island's highest point is Vail Peak, at Template:Convert.

is the smallest of the island chain and also the closest of the Channel Islands to the mainland. It is Template:Convert across the Santa Barbara Channel to the nearest point on the mainland and lies southwest of the city of . Anacapa comes from the word "Anyapax", meaning "illusion". sailed by the island in 1542; George Vancouver labeled the island "Enecapa" on a 1790 chart; the labeled the island "Anacapa" in 1854. Anacapa Island is home to the a national historic site.

is located about Template:Convert from the . With a total area of about Template:Convert, it is the smallest of the eight Channel Islands and is the southernmost island in the chain. The highest point on the island is Signal Hill, at Template:Cvt. The island was named by Spanish explorer , who sighted the island on 4 December 1602, the feast day dedicated to .

The islands are home to an array of significant natural resources and cultural sites; all of the islands contain national archeological districts except Santa Rosa Island. In 1976 all eight of the islands became a biosphere reserve as part of the under .

The is a protected area established May 5, 1980 encompassing the waters from mean high tide to Template:Convert around Channel Islands National Park, covering an area of approximately Template:Convert. The program is part of the and conducts educational programs, oversees conservation efforts, scientific research, and national resource stewardship. The sanctuary protects a wide range of marine species and more than 150 historic shipwrecks.

The islands are a place of cultural significance for the .

Death Valley

Death Valley National Park straddles the Template:Endash border, east of the . The park contains , the northern section of , the southern section of , and most of . The Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933; the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994. The park protects over Template:Convert.

Death Valley is the largest national park in the , and the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in , which is Template:Convert below sea level. More than 93% of the park is a designated . included Death Valley as the principal feature of its in 1984.

Despite its name, Death Valley National Park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals in its diverse and s.The ' (Cyprinodon salinus), also known as Salt Creek pupfish', is a small species of fish found only in Death Valley National Park; the pupfish is to two small, isolated locations and is currently classified as an .

Notable locations inside the park are: , , , , , , , and .

Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree National Park is in southeastern , east of and , near . It takes its name from the Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) native to the .

Minerva Hoyt led a campaign to convince the state and federal governments to protect the area; it was declared a in 1936; the monument was redesignated as a national park on October 31, 1994, by the . The park currently covers an area of over Template:Convert Template:Sndslightly larger than the state of ; Template:Convert of the park is a .

Notable Joshua Tree scenic areas and trails in the park include: , , , , and .

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

The Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park adjoin each other and are administered together by the National Park Service as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon National Park is located in the southern s, in and . Currently the park covers Template:Convert.{{ efn|name=kcs1|The encompasses over Template:Convert in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, created to protect a small area of giant sequoias from logging, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. The park is also a . Kings Canyon is north of and contiguous with , and both parks are jointly administered by the as the .

The park consists of two main areas: , home of the and Cedar Grove. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged -carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep. Other natural features include multiple Template:Convert peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of trees. The canyon is drained by the and s of the . Kings Canyon is home to over 60 recreational trails; combined the and the Template:Efn traverse the entire length of the park, from north to south.

Sequoia

Sequoia National Park is in the southern Sierra Nevada, northeast of . Because the parks are adjacent to each other, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are administered together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks by the National Park Service;. In 1976, designated the park as the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve.

The park was established on September 25, 1890 to protect over Template:Convert of moutainous forest wilderness and became a national park at the same time the National Park Service was founded on August 25, 1916; today the park protects Template:Convert. The park's giant sequoia forests are part of Template:Convert of old-growth forests protected by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The park is home to the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney (Template:Convert). Approximately 85 percent of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is a wilderness area inaccessible by road. The majority of the national park was designated as part of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness area in 1984 and the southwest portion of the park was protected as the in 2009.

The park is known for the it is named after, including the , by volume the largest tree on Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in an area of the park called the , which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world. The Giant Forest is connected by the to in Kings Canyon National park, home of the which is one of the other largest giant sequoias in existence.

Lassen Volcanic Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in in northeastern California and is known for its numerous volcanoes. The namesake feature of the park is , the largest in the world and the southernmost volcano in the . The park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found: plug dome, , , and . From May 1914 until 1917, a series of eruptions occurred on Lassen.

Lassen Volcanic National Park began in 1907 as two separate : Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument. Because of the recent volcanic activity and the area's scenery, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone, and the area surrounding were established as a National Park on August 9, 1916. The park currently protects over Template:Convert.

The source of heat for the volcanism in the Lassen area is of the diving below the off the coast. The area surrounding Lassen Peak is still active with boiling s, s, and s.

Pinnacles

Pinnacles National Park is a mountainous area located east of the in . The park is approximately Template:Convert inland from the and approximately Template:Convert south of the . The park is in the southern portion of the , part of California's . Pinnacles is the ninth location in California to become part of the National Park System. In 1975 the park occupied over Template:Convert, increasing to the present size of over Template:Convert through expansions including the Template:Convert Pinnacles Ranch and Bacon Ranch, and the Clinton administration's Proclamation 7266 which increased the size of the park by Template:Convert to protect more caves. The elevation in the park ranges from Template:Convert at the peak of . The park is also home to , an area of spirelike rock formations in the Gabilan Range area.

The park's is named for the rocky spires which are the remnants of an ancient volcanic field. The majority of the park is also protected as a . The park is divided by rock formations into eastern and western areas, connected by hiking trails. The rock formations provide for extensive views that attract enthusiasts. The park features which are home to at least thirteen different species of bats; the park is an excellent habitat for s, and is a protected release site for s hatched in captivity.

Pinnacles was established under the as a in 1908 by President and was redesignated as a national park by Congressional legislation in 2012 that was signed into law by President on January 10, 2013. The legislation designates the Pinnacles Wilderness as the Hain Wilderness in commemoration of Schuyler Hain's efforts to establish the national monument.

Redwoods

The Redwood National and State Parks are a network of three state and one national park located along the coast of northern within and . The and the administratively merged responsibility Redwood National Park with the three abutting Redwood State Parks in 1994 to streamline administration, forest management and resource stabilization.

The park network includes:

Humboldt Redwoods State Park and are California state Redwood parks which are part of the , but are not a part of the Redwood National and State Parks complex.

In 1850, redwood forest covered more than Template:Convert of the California coast. Today the parks protect the remaining Redwood forest area, a combined Template:Convert area of s. The four parks protect almost half of all remaining (Sequoia sempervirens) old-growth forests, totaling an area of over Template:Convert with Template:Convert of natural coastline. s are among the tallest, oldest, and most massive tree species on Earth.

After decades of unrestricted , efforts toward conservation of the Redwood forest started. The work of the , founded in 1918 to protect the remaining old-growth redwoods, resulted in the creation of the several state parks. Efforts by the Save the Redwoods League, the , and the to create a national park began in the early 1960s and Redwood National Park was created in 1968. The parks are currently managed jointly by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service.

The Redwood National and State Parks are one of twentyTemplate:Endashfour in the United States; the committee overseeing the evaluation noted the existence of over fifty prehistoric sites and the research on the area by . The park is also a part of the .

In addition to protecting the redwoods, the ecosystem of the parks protect a number of such as the , , , and , while providing educational programs and recreation facilities and numerous hiking and walking trails throughout the park.

Yosemite

Yosemite National Park is located in central California in the western Sierra Nevada; the park borders the Sierra National Forest to the southeast and Stanislaus National Forest to the northwest and extends Tuolumne, Mono, Madera, and Mariposa counties. Three wilderness areas adjoin the park: the to the southeast, the to the northeast, and the to the north. The park protects an area of almost Template:Convert; The elevation of the park ranges from Template:Convert to Template:Convert. The name "Yosemite" means "killer" in , and originally referred a tribe that was forced out of the area by the . Previously, the area had been called "Ahwahnee" ("big mouth") by indigenous people. The indigenous tribe that lived in the Valley were called Yosemites by other tribes because they were formed of renegades from the s. The term "Yosemite" in Miwok is easily confusable with a similar term for "grizzly bear".

Almost the entire park is designated as a wilderness area; the park contains multiple ecosystems such as chaparral and oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone, and alpine and protects a wide biological diversity of flora and fauna native to California and the Sierra Nevada. Yosemite is one of twentyTemplate:Endashfour in the United States.

Yosemite was at the heart of the development of the national park system. worked together with other conservationists to protect Yosemite Valley from development; this ultimately lead President to sign the Yosemite Grant Act in 1864. The movement to have Congress declare Yosemite a national park began soon after the grant and the valley and surrounding mountains and wilderness became a national park in 1890.

Notable areas protected inside Yosemite include: , , and , , , , , and .

About the National Park Service

The National Park Service (NPS) is the of the that manages all , many , and other historical properties with various designations. The agency was created on August 25, 1916 through the . The National Park Service is a part of the . The agency is charged with both preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management and also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.

References

General references

Barbour, M. G., Lydon, S., Borchert, M., Popper, M., Whitworth, V., & Evarts, J. (2001). Coast Redwood: A Natural and Cultural History. Cachuma Press.
Chiles, F. (2015). California's Channel Islands. University of Oklahoma Press.
Cunningham, B., & Cunningham, P. (2006). Hiking California's Desert Parks: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, Mojave, and Death Valley. Globe Pequot.
Dilsaver, L. M., & Tweed, W. C. (1990). Challenge of the Big Trees. National Park Service.
Dilsaver, L. M. (2015). Joshua Tree National Park: A History of Preserving the Desert. National Park Service.
Dunning, J., & Thron, D. (1998). From the Redwood Forest: Ancient Trees and the Bottom Line: A Headwaters Journey. Chelsea Green Pub Co.
Eggers, M. (2004). Mining History and Geology of Joshua Tree National Park. San Diego Association of Geologists.
Harris, A. G., Tuttle, E., & Tuttle, S. D. (1997). Geology of National Parks (5th revised edition). .
Harris, D. (1995). The Last Stand: The War Between Wall Street and Main Street over California’s Ancient Redwoods. Crown Publishing.
Hewes, J. J. (1995). Redwoods: The World’s Largest Trees. Smithmark Pub.
Johnstone, P., & Palmquist, P. E. (Eds.). (2001). Giants in the Earth: The California Redwoods. Heyday Books.
Kaiser, J. (2010). Joshua Tree: The Complete Guide (4th edition). Destination Press.
Kiver, E. P., Harris, D. V. (1999). Geology of U.S. Parklands (5th edition). John Wiley & Sons.
League, S. the R., & Hodder, S. (2019). The Once and Future Forest: California’s Iconic Redwoods. Heyday Books.
Maloof, J. (2016). Nature’s Temples: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests. Timber Press.
Mihaly, C. (2018). California's Redwood Forest. Focus Readers.
Morley, J. M. (1992). Muir Woods: The Ancient Redwood Forest Near San Francisco. Smith/Morley.
Noss, R. F. (Ed.). (1999). The Redwood Forest: History, Ecology, and Conservation of the Coast Redwoods. Island Press.
Rothman, H. K., & Miller, C. (2013). Death Valley National Park: A History. University of Nevada Press.
Schaffer, J. P. (1999). Yosemite National Park: A Natural History Guide to Yosemite and Its Trails. Berkeley: Wilderness Press.
Schoenherr, A. A., Feldmeth, C. R., & Emerson, M. J. (1999). Natural History of the Islands of California. University of California Press.
Sharp, R. P., & Glazner, A. F. (1997). Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley. .
Vieira, L. (1994). The Ever-Living Tree: The Life and Times of a Coast Redwood. Walker & Co.
Wallace, W. J. (1978). Ancient peoples and cultures of Death Valley National Monument (1st edition). Acoma Books.
Wuerthner, G. (1994). Yosemite: A Visitor's Companion. Stackpole Books.
Zarki, J. W. (2015). Images of America: Joshua Tree National Park. Arcadia Publishing.

Notes

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Citations

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External links

General

National Parks in California; Visit California.
Map and list of national parks, monuments, and historic sites in California, National Park Service
Map of Northern California; University of Texas
Map of Southern California; University of Texas

Parks

1920s photographs of Death Valley and surrounding area; Digital History Collections, Utah State University.
Historic Photos of Yosemite National Park, Brigham Young University.