Snug inside her tent, freshman Alexandra Perrault awakes under the glittering skies of Joshua Tree National Park. Her mind races, recalling memories of the past few days — the giant boulders she climbed and explored with her younger brother; watching the sun set over the dry, rocky terrain, speckled with spots of green cacti; how, despite the barrenness of the desert, the land was still so full of life, beautiful and calming. Suddenly, outside of her tent, she hears noises — first the padding of running paws, then the yipping of coyotes. The only person awake, Perrault cherishes the moment of solitude she has been given, breath taken by the scene unfolding around her.
“I felt like I was part of something special,” Perrault said. “It was like the desert had offered me this opportunity to experience something I had never experienced, and it was just stunning.”
National parks are landmarks of the United States, boasting 63 parks scattered throughout 30 states — nine of which are located in California alone. Managed by the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. federal government, the parks showcase a diverse array of landscapes, from the deserts of Joshua Tree National Park in California to the snowy peaks of Alaska’s Mount Denali. According to the National Park Service, the parks are established as a way to conserve the natural scenery in a way that “will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations,” with over 325 million visitors in 2023 alone.
However, in light of the reelection of President Trump, newly enacted executive orders could undermine the work that national parks have tried to conserve for years. Legislation prioritizing oil and gas drilling have already disrupted national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and these public lands could even be sold off to private companies and investors for industry.
The new legislation puts both essential habitats and public recreation areas at risk, ultimately also threatening the many benefits the public receives from the widespread availability of the parks — a unique feature of the U.S. With a goal of eventually visiting every single park, science teacher Kyle Jones especially appreciates how the U.S. prioritizes the cultural and recreational services that national parks provide, adding that it is often rare for countries to set aside such large areas of land as protected nature preserves.
“We live in the suburbs and the city, and there’s something special about the beauty of big cities,” Jones said. “But there’s also something really special about completely untouched nature. The nice thing about living in the U.S. is you can go to a place like New York City, and then you can go to a place like Acadia, or the Rocky Mountains or Yosemite, and you’re seeing the pinnacle of human stuff and then the pinnacle of natural beauty.”
Similar to Jones, senior Rishab Perati notes the stark differences between national parks and urban areas. For Perati, the unique geological and topographical features of the U.S., like the hoodoo rock formations of Bryce Canyon National Park and the dormant cinder volcano in Lassen National Park, are what make national parks different from any other state or county park.
“Sometimes it’s nice to just close your eyes,” Perati said. “Just thinking about where your house is, how the setting of your house is, and then opening your eyes and seeing how different everything around you. I kind of have a loss of words. It’s so astonishing.”
Perati says he visits Yosemite National Park the most often, due to the convenience of it being nearby. Despite this, he says he doesn’t ever tire of visiting the park; due to the ever-changing natural landscapes, there are always new and different things to do. Perrault agrees, adding that one of her favorite ways to explore national parks is by camping overnight.
“With camping, you’re just out in nature a lot more,” Perrault said. “You’re really far away from civilization depending on where you go, and given that opportunity, you can experience being in nature a lot more, and you start to appreciate it more.”
Although Perati notes that sometimes state and national parks are known for certain picturesque scenes or unique features, he adds that being out in nature gives a much different sense than just merely seeing pictures, as there are many aspects that pictures are unable to convey.
“When I saw the Grand Canyon in person, if you stood at one of the lookout points, you could see a really nice sunset and you could see the sun rays actually shining on different parts of the canyon,” Perati said. “It was very cold there, but the interesting thing was, if you were to hike down, it would get hotter and hotter as you went down in elevation. And just seeing how far down that I went was pretty amazing.”
Jones notes that his experiences visiting national parks also aid him when teaching. Currently teaching freshman biology, Science and Society and AP Environmental Science, he says his visits give him a well-rounded picture of concepts he is teaching, such as ecosystems and environmental services.
“When I teach about ecosystem services, having experienced the value of something like a national park makes you realize that sometimes when we think about the value nature provides, we tend to prioritize things like the provisional services,” Jones said. “But having experienced it at a national park, you realize that the cultural and aesthetic services are really important as well.”
Similarly, as a person who often thinks ahead about the future and the assignments and activities that need to be done, Perrault says visiting national parks has helped her relax. According to Perrault, visiting the parks grounds her in the present and helps her focus on the things around her, providing her the opportunity to clear her head and see and appreciate the small glimpses of beauty around her. Although she isn’t able to visit national parks as often since she started high school, Perrault says she often takes breaks from schoolwork outside, just to be out in nature.
“Even if I’m just walking around in my neighborhood taking a break from schoolwork, I’ll just look at the mountains around my house and be like, ‘This is really pretty,’” Perrault said. “I feel it really helps me be in the moment and appreciate the small things, and it helps me see the world and the beauty that I wouldn’t have noticed before. I think national parks can help people just become better — not so focused on what’s in the future and what was in the past. To be out in nature — it makes a person more alive, in my eyes.”
