NATIONAL PARKS - STEEPED IN UNBELIEVABLE SPLENDOR

Most of the people who visit the National Parks, whether they realize it or not, or whether they put it into words, are impelled to visit them because of the quest for a supreme experience. The gleam of glaciers on a mighty mountain; the shimmering beauty of a lake indescribably blue, resting in the crater of an extinct volcano; the thunder and mist of water falling over sculptured granite cliffs; the colorful chapter in the book of time revealed by the strata of a mile-high canyon gashed by a gushing river; the sight of strange new plants and animals living in natural adaptation to their environment and to each other; the roar of surf raging its eternal battle with the land; the silence that hangs over the ruins of the habitations of forgotten peoples; the lengthening shadows of the towering Sequoias - these and a thousand other vivid impressions are at the heart of the experience that national park visitors travel many miles to seek. All else that they do or that we do in the National Parks is incidental. If we can remember this, we can remain true to our high calling as trustees for the great things of America.

--Newton B. Drury