THE NATIONAL PARKS SYSTEM 231 



charming. Also, under the definition they consti- 

 tute a still more remarkable and valuable National 

 Museum of Original America, depository of unique 

 unmodified irreplaceable examples of the vast wil- 

 derness which our forefathers conquered, the inter- 

 national fame and usefulness of which will dissipate 

 if mixed with exhibits altered by civilization's often 

 ruthless hand. 



Such reservations of lesser quality may be ex- 

 cellent recreational parks, and there are places for all 

 good things ; but a national institution of very spe- 

 cial character and value is no place for anything, 

 however admirable it may be, which will damage it 

 by its presence. 



After nearly sixty years of upbuilding, our Na- 

 tional Parks include, among nineteen units, five 

 which do not meet standards, these fortunately so 

 small as to detract practically nothing from the idea 

 of the whole. The combined areas of these excep- 

 tions constitute only twenty-nine square miles out of 

 a total of more than eleven thousand square miles, a 

 negligible proportion. It is of the great primitive 

 parks constituting the Standard National Parks Sys- 

 tem which we treat. 



When we consider the fortuitous origin and 

 unplanned development of the National Parks Sys- 

 tem, we wonder at its remarkable scope and repre- 

 sentative character. It is difficult to believe it other 

 than the product of careful initial survey of possible 

 fields of scenic greatness and variety, and of geologic 



