Yellowstone National Park is preparing for a significant celebration later this year. March 1st, 2022, marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park as the world’s first national park. Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, the park was set aside to preserve and protect the scenery, cultural heritage, wildlife, geologic and ecological systems and processes in their natural condition for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Yellowstone serves as the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last and largest nearly intact natural ecosystems on the planet. Yellowstone has the most active, diverse, and intact collections of combined geothermal features with over 10,000 hydrothermal sites and half the world’s active geysers.
The park is also rich in cultural and historical resources with 25 sites, landmarks and districts on the National Register of Historic Places. For over 10,000 years prior to Yellowstone becoming a national park, it was a place where Native Americans hunted, fished, gathered plants, quarried obsidian and used thermal waters for religious and medicinal purposes. Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly remarked, “Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary is an important moment in time for the world.”
Yellowstone National Park set for big birthday
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