- There are 58 national parks in the National Park Service and you will LOVE how you feel when you visit any one of them.
- 2016 marks the 100th Anniversary of the National Parks Service in the United States. The federal law that established the NPS is the Organic Act of 1916.
- During times of great division in our country, Nature offered a unifying element. Designating Yellowstone as a Federal Park ended the dispute between Wyoming and Montana as to which State would get it. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln set aside land for Yosemite National Park. Perhaps the idea of finding common ground could offer solutions for today.
- The Roots of ‘America’s Best Idea’ kicked off CNN‘s year long coverage celebrating the centennial anniversary.
- The National Park Service was created in 1916 with a doctrine “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”. The creation of a national park is an expression of faith in the future. Inspiring us, uplifting our spirits, they serve as powerful reminders of our national origins and destiny. National Park Service
- Important to building the pride of a young country, the grandeur of NATURE in this land gave the United States something that it could successfully compete with Europe’s great buildings and monuments.
- During a time of great expansion, poems published by Thoreau, Emerson and Muir created an American Love Affair with Nature.
- The most-visited national park is Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. It has twice the visitors as the second most visited Grand Canyon National Park.
- The National Park Service owns and maintains lands that are not designated National Parks such as the land bordering The Blue Ridge Parkway. This parkway is America’s longest linear park. It runs for 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina, mostly along the Blue Ridge Mountains. The terminal points are the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
Locust Split Rails maintain the Blue Ridge Parkway Heritage & Character - The two original planners for the land of the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina (125,000 acres – whose management strategies contributed to the formation of The Organic Act) were at odds about the formation of the National Park Service. Gifford Pinchot, the first land manager at the estate who went on to become the first Director of the US Forest Service opposed the formation. The famed landscape Architect for The Biltmore Estate as well as Central Park in NY, Frederick Olmsted supported its formation.
These treasures are our legacy, but they are also ours to care for. For The Bark House, that means supplying products that meet two principles that the original NPS doctrine was founded upon: to conserve both the heritage and land for future generations. Locust Split Rail Fencing is an icon in the National Parks. The material itself is historically appropriate and supports the local artisanal heritage of craft. The split rails reveal knots and twists that weather with great character over time, unique only to locust. The locust logs are naturally (without any harmful chemicals) rot resistant and thus able to withstand ground contact. The logs in round are used to prevent soil erosion on foot paths and are used in historically sensitive areas.
