The dissonance is an emotional conflict. Do you understand the principles?

The NPS fanatics who still believe that the mass condemnations of private owners were necessary sacrifices don't understand it and don't want to. They put their emotional nature worship ahead of human rights.

I have encountered some preservationists who when learning of the forced population displacements don't like it, but are very limited in what they are willing to do about it. They have no sympathy for private owners other than homeowners, and still want to "experiment" with restrictions in new parks like greenlining and only limitations on eminent domain. These schemes have been imposed over and over with the same abusive injustices under phony promises of "this time it's different". Their misanthropic nature worship religion emotionally attached to scenery is very deep.

From which springs my cognitive dissonance.

Land does not need "saving" from the homes of people who own the land and want to enjoy living on it. The Rockefeller ploy was intended to block private ownership on the lowland seen while looking at the mountains in the distance. There was already a small National Park in the mountains and a large National Forest nearby. NPS rhetoric is filled with contempt for private ownership, the "commercial" and "development", yet crony Rockefeller wound up with a plush resort inside the park.

If someone wants to preserve land he can buy it himself without exploiting the power of the Federal government, with or without the chicanery of the political insiders and cronies. The end does not justify the means. National Park fanatics driven by their emotions over scenery don't acknowledge that.

I have some cognitive dissonance about the "founding" of Teton Park. Regardless of the process, it saved that place from development which would have turned it into a very expensive housing development. The fact that the town (Jackson Hole) is crammed into the south end of the valley is what makes (keeps) the rest of the valley so spectacular. If it were in private hands, there would be another 30,000 houses over there. I live in Riverton, 150 miles from Jackson

My favorite place is a non-park -- our own property on the Maine coast that the National Park Service and its lobby tried to take in back room chicanery that is best described as racketeering. The threat constantly looms.

There is a road to the top of Cadillac Mountain and other park and local roads through the park. But cars are being replaced by mass transportation in buses.

The carriage roads -- a "gift from Rockefeller" -- were turned over to the National Park because Rockefeller had a dispute with the local town in which he didn't want other people driving cars near his mansion. His connection with the National Park Service is how he resolved the dispute.

Cars were banned on most of Mt. Desert Island (where Acadia is and connected to the mainland by a single road) so the big shot "rusticators" weren't disturbed by them in their summer "cottages" (mansions). A massive fire swept the island in the 1940s and burned a large portion of the buildings to the ground because there was no way for fire engines to get in. That was also the end of the romantic enforcement of the roadless policy.

One of the big National Park Service scandals is the creation of Grand Teton. The Interior Department wanted to take it over but ran into massive opposition from local people and the state of Montana. Laurence Rockefeller set up phony front organizations to buy up most of the land without local people realizing it, then "donated" it to the Interior Dept, trapping and surrounding inholders who didn't want to sell. They couldn't get a National Park approved by Congress so FDR decreed it to be a National Monument under the Antiquities Act. Years later they finally rammed the National Park designation through Congress, but only with the provision, unique in the US, that the President can no longer decree National Monuments in Montana. Rockefeller retained the right to build and keep a plush resort inside the park.

The early big National Parks in the east -- Shenandoah (Blue Ridge), Smoky Mountains and Acadia -- were all established by land takings and political corruption and all are dishonestly promoted under the myth as being "gifts" from the wealthy. Worse, is that this practice has been continued across the country ever since, and the National Park Service and its lobby make no apologies for it. When they acknowledge it at all they regard it as a necessary sacrifice. They know very well that normal people are appalled by it when they find out, and do what they can to evade it, including through outright dishonest denial. It can be "interesting" to confront National Park Service rangers over this, though there are many who work for the agency who don't like it either.

I used to think that in the range of government waste and abuse that National Parks were the least to worry about. How much damage could they do 'managing' wilderness and picnic tables? It turns out that it ranks down at the bottom along with 'asset forfeiture' and the IRS. Yet the National Park Service is consistently ranked very high with the general public because they don't know: They are reacting to images of scenery and Smoky the Bear and know nothing about the land condemnation, restrictions, expansionist mentality, bureaucratic corruption and mission mentality, cronyism with the concessions permitted inside while trying to drive everything out for wilderness preservation, and the $11 billion deficit in maintenance and restoration.

The National Park Service is a very dangerous agency hiding its corruption behind the scenery. This has been fueled by the modern viro movement with its misanthropic nihilistic nature worship and its influence within government today. Most people enjoy scenery but don't go berserk using it as an excuse for dictatorship. Not so the viros and NPS.

Capitol Reef and HWY 12 between Bryce and CR.
Zion is a close second.
Yosemite is simply breathtaking. You pop out of the tunnel and enter heaven. I literally wept...but there are ENTIRELY TOO MANY PEOPLE!

There is a lot more to it than how clean they are. Every time you walk into a National Park ask yourself how they got the land and what they have done to prevent people from using it.

When you go to Acadia it's best to bring your own horses and carriage. The carriage roads are exactly that, well constructed for carriage and horse, and without cars.

If you do not have horses, or do but you and the horses have not learned driving, well, there's your opportunity! "Gotta get horses. Gotta learn driving. It's off to Acadia in five years!!"

One day when I was living in San Diego, my son and I on a lark, decided to take off for Yosemite. Awesome and breathtaking. I always thought that the Ansel Adams pics of the Park were impressive, but that can't be compared to the real thing. Since the park is booked way in advance, we stayed at a Motel outside the park.
There were a few good restaurants there except one. All I can say about it is never eat at an Italian restaurant where the waiter wears cowboy boots.
In national parks, my favorite is The Grand Canyon, because we took a raft trip down the Colorado River through the canyon. I Highly recommend it, but take the whole trip from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. It usually takes 7 days and you camp in the midst of wonder and going over the rapids is better than Disney. And if you like contrast, Las Vegas is just up the road.

Up until just a few years ago, I had been to Yosemite every year (save 3) since I was a teenager - from hiking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne to sneaking a tent (on a motorcycle, nonetheless!) into a grove on the valley floor and spending a long weekend unseen (and unbothered) with a few friends. It is, by far, one of my favorites, and has been for a while, but it's become so overrun with tourists it's not as it once was...

My current favorite is Lassen Volcanic - most of the visitors are either from overseas or from the local area (and there are few of either, usually!), the beauty of the park itself and the surrounding area is breathtaking, and the vistas are spectacular.

Then again, living 10 miles from the gate, I just might be a little biased...

Yosemite is great but I have not been there since I left California in 1986. I was stationed out there in the early 80's and enjoyed the mountains as I lived in Colorado before that. I spent many weekends in that area. The parks are a sore subject, yes, our taxes are used to support these parks, sometimes poorly but they are gems worth preserving. We don't always have a say in what our taxes are spent on but I believe that if you have the time or are located close to any of the parks, do it, take the time and visit these wonderful places.

Big Bend in TX but I also enjoy Great Sandunes in Colorado. Some of the larger parks like Yellowstone or Glacier I 'd like better if they weren 't so police-y. That gets annoying

My pursuit is not that formalized yet. Of the 58 I have been to

Yosemite, the article talks about Hetch Hetchy and most just consider just the Valley but the wilderness areas of Yos is immense, beautiful and not easy to access. I've gone days up there without seeing another person.
Yellowstone, an amazing place but I struggled to get away from the crowds.
Denali, an incredible place, going back for sure and will take the bus the full 100 miles to the end of the road.
Everglades
Adirondack
Grand Canyon, will do the hike across some day.
Zion multiple times, very peaceful in the off season, and only a few hours from Vegas
Glacier
Grand Tetons. Another favorite, the hiking here can get exciting.
Haleakala, most visits on a bike
Hawaii volcanoes
MT Rainer, will return
Sequoia
And Acadia

When we cut back on work, we will be a bit more aggressive in our NP visits. On principle I may choose to Not visit the Theodore roosevelt NP.
Aloha,
iSank

Hi ISank,

How far have you gotten on seeing all the parks? do you have a percentage, or x out of 388 visited to date? Other than Yosemite, any other favorites? I'm always planning "the next trip" and appreciate any input!

I do wish they were in private hands, they sure would be a lot more cleaner. I have had the good fortune to have spent many months in Yosemite. For many years I would spend a few weeks each year hiking and climbing around the valley walls, then up into Tuolumne, and off into the surrounding Sierra Nevada. So yea Yosemite is a nice place.
My "bucket list" is to visit every national park in North America.
Have fun,
iSank

Interesting point about public parks. My wife and I visited a privately-owned park earlier this year - Dismals Canyon in north Alabama. It doesn't compare to the size and scope of a Yosemite or Yellowstone, but the experience was roughly equivalent to experiences at national parks in terms of facilities. We took a night tour and the guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all questions posed to him. I would put him on par with guides we had at Mesa Verde the first time we visited (and better than the last guides we had at MV).

My other comment is, hey, you're paying for them whether you want to or not, you should go enjoy them if you get a chance. It's kinda like social security in that regard ... I may not agree with it in principle, but I don't get a choice of whether they tax me for it. My only choice is whether to take the benefit derived from those taxes.

If you're not close enough to enjoy Yosemite, on the other side of the continent are the Blue Ridge Parkway, Smokey Mountains, or Acadia in Maine (I haven't been to Acadia yet, but my brother gives it high marks)..

The comments in the article are amusing. One raises the question of the idea of public parks with a libertarian critique. The Government is making us taxpayers work to pay for a park that most of us will never visit.

Glacier is our favorite, but agree that Yosemite is also a must see. I also highly recommend North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone.

+1 Agreed, Yosemite is beautiful.

I've been to many of the national parks. Views in Grand Teton are breathtaking. Meteor crater (private control now) is sobering. Grand Canyon is spectacular...etc

My favorite...A tough call, but I really enjoy caves. So I will go with Carlsbad Caverns, although Mammoth caves are impressive too.