{"id":1033,"date":"2016-09-26T10:12:26","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T15:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2016-09-26T10:12:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T15:12:26","slug":"whose-nation-whose-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/09\/26\/whose-nation-whose-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Nation, Whose Parks?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Lee Coursey, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last month marked the <\/span>centennial of the National Park Service<\/span><\/a>, which is tasked with preserving natural and cultural resources and protecting outdoor spaces for recreation, like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. The most recently designated park is an <\/span>ocean<\/span><\/i> park where <\/span>4,900 square miles of deep sea volcanoes and canyons in the Atlantic ocean<\/span><\/a> are now prohibited from commercial fishing and other types of resource extraction. While the idea behind the national park system is that <\/span>everyone<\/span><\/i> should be able to enjoy nature, the reality is that the working class and people of color are less likely to use national parks and the history of the parks has involved the displacement and exclusion of Native American, African American and immigrant communities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unequal access to resources – including money for entrance fees and transportation, equipment for exploring the parks, and leisure time – have resulted in race and class differences in who can actually enjoy the national parks. <\/span><\/h5>\n