The National Park Service turned 100 on Thursday, and central Kansas residents don’t have to travel far to take part in the celebration.
The Fort Larned National Historic Site has a full day of programs scheduled this Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are free and include music from the Fort Larned Post Band, a sampling of cultural foods, storybook hour for the kids with live prairie dogs, and a talent show.
Also in Kansas are the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve near Strong City, the Fort Scott National Historic site, Nicodemus National Historic Site and the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka.
Across the nation, the National Park Service is kicking off a second century of stewardship of America’s national parks and engaging communities through recreation, conservation and historic preservation programs. These more than 400 beautiful, historic and exquisite sites cover over 80 million acres consisting of approximately 18,000 miles of trails, more than 75,000 archaeological sites and at least 247 species of threatened or endangered plants and animals.
Yellowstone became our first national park by an Act of Congress on March 1, 1872, beginning a worldwide national park movement. On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service.
All of this information can be found on National Park Service websites, starting with www.NPS.gov.
We encourage people to visit these sites, and the next two weekends are especially good times to do so.