236 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



ARE NATIONAL PARKS WORTH WHILE? 



By J. Horace McFarland. 



[Extracts from President's address at Seventh Annual Convention of the 

 American Civic Association, Washington, D. C, December 13, 1911.] 



There can only be a negative reply to the query of the sub- 

 ject, unless it be conclusively shown that the national parks 

 add definitely something of value to the hfe or the resources 

 of the nation. Mere pride of possession cannot justify, in dem- 

 ocratic America, the removal from development of upwards 

 of five millions of acres of the public domain. 



To establish true value, real worth-whileness, therefore, it 

 is necessary to put the national parks on trial. Indeed, as 

 the national parks are but a larger development of municipal, 

 county and state parks, we may quite properly put on the 

 stand the whole American Park idea. 



There come, increasingly in these work-filled American days, 

 times when the tired spirit seeks a wider space for change 

 and rest than any city, or indeed, any State, can provide. The 

 deep forests of the Sierra call, the snow-capped peaks of the 

 Rockies beckon. The roar of Niagara can drown the buzz 

 of the ticker. Old Faithful's gleaming column of spray shuts 

 off the balance sheet. El Capitan makes puny the capital of 

 any State, or of the nation. The camp under the oaks of the 

 Hetch-Hetchy Valley, near the ripple of the Tuolumne, re- 

 stores vigor, uplifts the wearied spirit. What cathedral of 

 man's building shows forth the power of God unto health of 

 soul as does the Grand Canon of the Colorado? The Glacier 

 wonderland of the northwest gives us lessons on the building 

 of the continent, and the giant Sequoias of the Pacific Slope 

 teach us of our own littleness. 



These national parks, then, are our larger playgrounds. Every- 

 thing that the Hmited scope of the city park can do as quick 

 aid to the citizen, they are ready to do more thoroughly, on 

 a greater scale. 



To the vast open spaces, the sight of great mountains, the 

 opportunity to live a mile or more higher up they add possibi- 

 lities of real life in the open just touched upon as yet, even 

 though more than three thousand horses this year drew their 

 owners on camping trips into the Yellowstone alone. 



