This is an excellent question, and one that I feel has significant depth, as it spans centuries, and includes, in addition to history, the fields of sociology, economics, and biology. An important place to start is the recognition that the United States is uniquely situated as a country that includes an incredible diversity in its nature; many native flora and fauna are not only intrinsically fascinating, but are quite distinct from those found in the Old World. In addition, the United States enjoys geographic diversity unparalleled by other nations. Included in the borders of the U.S. are old growth forests, grasslands, swamps, mountains, tundra, desert, and many other sub-categories of ecoregions. Each of these ecoregions represents a unique set of resources, challenges, dangers, and beauty. It is each of these four classes that the wildernesses of America have impacted American culture.

First, resources. At the onset of European colonization, North America represented a much-desired source of timber, among other resources (1). Both British and French colonies were established as a means of extracting needed resources and shipping them back to the Old World. It began to grow clear, however, that an effective slash-and-move-on policy would not be sustainable, even in the American Colonies where resources, especially timber, seemed almost endless (2). Indeed, following the American Revolution, the newly-minted republic expanded rapidly to acquire more land, and by extension, resources. Thomas Jefferson’s stately purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and the subsequent exploration and settling of that land by Americans supports this idea (3). Furthermore, as the 19th century neared its center, and the American Civil War loomed, both northern and southern economies were, to varying extents dependent on the continued exploitation of America’s resources (4).

Manifest destiny had become a cultural ideal, reaching what some considered the status of divine intervention (4). With the Texas Revolution, the end of the Mexican-American War and the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the United States had acquired access to massive pieces of frontier. Even before the United States acquired these lands outright, American settlers were making their way westward, aiming for settlements in Mexican Texas and California, and British Oregon and Washington (5). Exploitation of the American natural resources gradually turned to a focus on the challenges faced by settlers of the American west and the U.S. government, which caused nature to change from a thing to exploit into a thing to conquer. Challenges included the financial investment required to uproot one’s family and move west, and the legitimate dangers faced by immigrants at the hands of disease, weather, distance, and, to a small extent, hostile Native Americans (5, 6). The (often exaggerated) stories of immigrants to the West also played a major role in the American public’s later enjoyment of the NPS, both in the literal dangers associated with various ecoregions (see Challenges above) and in the ways westward expansion tamed the danger. This also connects to contemporary enjoyment of the natural world in the world of zoos and museums exhibiting live and taxidermy specimens of animals of the American West, especially megafauna like bears, moose, cougars, and others. This is a long run up to the founding of the NPS, but it is important to understand the way nature was thought of in British colonial America and well into the 19th century: as something to be exploited and overcome.

Sentiment began to change in the latter half of the 19th century, with an increasing appreciation of the natural beauty offered by America’s diverse ecoregions. John Muir’s numerous nature writings and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden are (rightfully) touted as massively influential to the growing appreciation of nature by modern Americans (7, 8). Often overlooked, but perhaps just as influential in encouraging the public’s sentiment, were painters of the American West, such as Albert Bierstadt, who often accompanied military and railroad expeditions with the sole intent of capturing the beauty of the American West (9, 10). With a growing American appreciation for the nature they had inherited, and with a desire to set aside some of the frontier, on 1. March 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as the nation’s first National Park following the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 (11). Between 1872 and the early 21st century, an appreciation for the “wilderness” trope was nurtured, efforts were continued, and additional parks were established (12, 13). American culture began to contain references to mountain men and sport hunters of the West, stories circulated, myths emerged, and the American West itself became a culture phenomenon.

The contemporary National Parks Service oversees hundreds of sites across the United States, and its outlying islands and territories. As of 2022, NPS holdings included those focused on nature, such as National Parks, Lakeshores, Preserves, Rivers, Scenic Trails, and Wildlife Refuge Areas. The NPS also oversees areas of the United States that hold significant historical or cultural value, such as National Historic Sites, National Battlefields, and National Memorials (14). In 2021, the NPS reported just under 300,000,000 visitors to all its holdings, with the highest numbers visiting (in order): 1. National Parks, 2. National Recreation Areas, and 3. National Parkways (15). This annual visitor count to the wide variety of NPS holdings speaks to a deep appreciation for natural beauty that is ingrained in the American public.

In conclusion, a long history of the American Frontier evolved into an American pastime, which remains an important part of the lives of many Americans, myself included. The NPS maintains sites of significant historical value for the United States, which in turn assist in the education of the nation’s citizens of their country’s origins, its turmoil, its strife, and its victories. Furthermore, the National Parks (NPs) represent a window into the continent prior to human intervention. The diverse natural beauty represented by the peaks of Rocky Mountain NP, the desolate starry sky of Big Bend NP, and the seemingly untamable wilderness of the Alaskan NPs is a solemn truth that speaks to all: nature is out there. There is little more valuable than the recognition of the voices of the past and the appreciation of the wilderness that is still very much alive. The National Parks have therefore been, and continue to be, incredibly important to American Culture.

​

“There are those who can live without wild things and some who cannot…Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them.”

-Aldo Leopold