288 OUR FEDERAL LANDS 



National Monuments differ from National 

 Parks in several vital ways. 



National Parks, as we have seen, are areas of 

 original unmodified natural condition, each the fin- 

 est example of its scenic type in the country, pre- 

 served as a system from all industrial use. They 

 are created by act of Congress and administered by 

 the Interior Department. National Monuments are 

 areas preserving landmarks, structures, and objects, 

 "confined to the smallest area compatible with 

 proper care and management," created by executive 

 order of the President upon certification of the De- 

 partment of the national government caring for or 

 administering the land from which each is created. 



Both, it will be seen, are outdoor museum sys- 

 tems and as such have much in common, including 

 high educational values. But the National Parks 

 System is also a National Gallery of Scenic Master- 

 pieces, which the National Monuments System is 

 not; that some monuments, like Mount Olympus, 

 have extraordinary scenic values is accidental. Also, 

 our National Parks System by its nature is inspira- 

 tional in high degree, which the National Monu- 

 ments System is not except in incidental units. Also 

 from its nature the National Parks System is recre- 

 ational, whereas recreational uses attach to National 

 Monuments only by accident of location or because 

 approached by highways. 



The fact that several National Monuments are 

 very large in area is no violation of the law. Mount 



