National Parks

Based on the articles, I believe that there are two main problems the National Parks are experiencing right now. Number one involves a lack of knowledge and respect of the great outdoors by many of the parks' patrons. Litter, destruction of property, feeding the animals, and a lack of respect of all of the plants and animals by the visitors are all reasons that are bringing down our national parks. Many visitors to our national parks are tourists, which see our parks as more of a zoo just for their enjoyment. They don't understand that most parks are still wilderness, even though they are populated by people. They leave garbage around, feed the animals like pets, and disturb plant life when they hike. The best way to protect our national parks would be to take all of the people out of them. But if we did, what's the point of having any national parks if we can't enjoy them. The second issue involves a lack of funding. Both Nat Geo articles say our national park system costs 9.5 billion a year to run. In terms of popular politics, nobody will ever bring up the idea of giving our national parks more money. Our government is too focused on intervening in foreign countries and studying healthcare. We need to give our national parks all the money they need to keep in good shape. If our national parks are ruined, there is no way to get them back. We need to appreciate them while we still have them and treat our planet nicely.