26 i HOE? SALUD U BtOUN © (Beutler 
ONE MAN’S VIEWPOINT 
The World Conference on National Parks: 
Must the Dream Fade? 
by RAYMOND MOSTEK 
. (Past President, Illinois Audubon Society) 
CONSERVATIONISTS AND PARKS LEADERS from some 90 nations were 
to gather at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks on September 18- 
27, 1972, for the Second World Conference on National Parks. In Illinois, 
we may take some comfort from the fact that it was an Illinois President, 
U. S. Grant, who signed legislation creating the first national park in the 
country back on March 1, 1872. 
The Department of Interior and the nation have been celebrating the 
event all year, and well it might, for Yellowstone National Park was the 
first national park in the world. More than 100 nations have been inspired 
to set aside more than 1,200 national parks and national reserves in the 
past century. 
THE FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE on national parks was held in 
Seattle in 1962 and sponsored by the International Union for the Conserva- 
tion of Nature. A major event of the Yellowstone meeting was to be re- 
dedication of national parks to the service of mankind. The service took 
place at Madison Junction in the park where Judge Cornelius Hedges 
urged the members of the Washburn expedition 102 years ago to pledge 
themselves to work to preserve the amazing wonders which they had ob- 
served “for the benefit of all mankind.” 
Up to that point, some members hewed to the philosophy of the times 
and suggested the exploitation of the region. In effect, Hedges followed the 
advice of President Lincoln who once said, ‘To remain silent when they 
should speak, makes cowards of men.” Hedges spoke out and up, and as a 
result, 3,472 square miles of rich primeval wilderness have been saved for 
the enjoyment of mankind and future generations. 
EARLIER THIS YEAR, “OLD FAITHFUL,” the famous geyser in 
Yellowstone, was placed on a jumbo 8-cent stamp by the Postal Service. 
It was the first of eight to be issued in five denominations to help commem- 
orate the centennial. Accounts of the exploration and creation of the park 
have been written many, many, times. One of the best is “The Story of Man 
in Yellowstone” by Merrill D. Beal. 
It was President Woodrow Wilson who signed the National Park 
Service Act on August 25, 1916, and later appointed a Chicagoan as the 
first director. The early years of the NPS and Steve Mather are documented 
in a fascinating volume by Robert Shankland called “Steve Mather of the 
National Parks.” N. P. Langford, who was a member of the original 
Washburn expedition and who later became the first superintendent of 
Yellowstone, and Mather, who doubled the holdings of the National Park 
Service in his twelve years in public office, had great dreams for our 
national parks as nature preserves for wildlife and wildflowers and as 
refreshing areas for fellow citizens to visit. 
