Park Service marks centennial with new citizens, monument


              This photo provided by the National Park Service shows people on the National Mall in Washington, looking toward the World War II Memorial, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, creating a giant, living version of the National Park Service emblem. Participants used brown, green and white umbrellas to create the emblem. 
(Tim Ervin/National Park Service via AP)
This photo provided by the National Park Service shows people on the National Mall in Washington, looking toward the World War II Memorial, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, creating a giant, living version of the National Park Service emblem. Participants used brown, green and white umbrellas to create the emblem. (Tim Ervin/National Park Service via AP)

The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday on Thursday with events across the U.S. including the creation of a giant, living version of its emblem in Washington, D.C., a naturalization ceremony on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and an outdoor concert at Yellowstone National Park.

The centennial comes as the agency that manages national parks as well as historic places welcomes a new national monument and nature forces some changes in the party in the West.

LIVING EMBLEM

More than 1,000 kids and adults used brown, green and white umbrellas to create a living version of the park service emblem on the National Mall, which the agency photographed from a helicopter above. The emblem contains elements symbolizing the major facets of the national park system. A Sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, mountains and water represent scenery and recreation and the arrowhead shape represents history and archaeology. The first 1,000 participants were allowed to keep their umbrellas and got T-shirts commemorating the event.

NEW MONUMENT

On Wednesday President Barack Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters monument on 87,000 acres in Maine's North Woods donated by the founder of Burt's Bees, Roxanne Quimby. The land, which includes stunning views of the state's tallest mountain, Katahdin, is cherished by Native Americans, and its history includes visits by naturalist Henry David Thoreau and President Theodore Roosevelt.

The creation of the agency's 413th property was opposed by state lawmakers and critics fear that it will hinder efforts to rebuild a forest-based economy in the region. Quimby's son said many parks in the service's system have been criticized upon creation but "when we look to the future, we see huge amounts of success."

NATURE INTRUDES

For a time, both fire and ice hindered travel into Yellowstone National Park on the park service's centennial anniversary.

Authorities closed a portion of the popular Beartooth Highway to the park's northeast entrance Wednesday night because of snow and ice from a summer snowstorm, but the road reopened Thursday morning.

At the other end of the park, a portion of the road leading to Yellowstone's South Entrance remained closed because of a wildfire. Visitors heading to Thursday's celebration and concert at the Roosevelt Arch from the south face an hour-long detour into Idaho.

In Montana, grizzly bear activity threatened to cancel a hike in Glacier National Park by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The Highline Trail has been closed all week because a family of grizzlies has been feeding on a carcass there. Jewell also plans to talk with park officials, scientists and others about how climate change is affecting the park and its disappearing glaciers.

FREE ADMISSION

The park service is offering free admission to all its sites through Sunday. They're among 16 free days scheduled throughout the centennial year. Some parks are serving birthday cake and offering ranger talks for the occasion. The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland is offering free mule-drawn boat rides on Thursday.

Upcoming Events