What's the Dif ? Part two

This is part two, and will make more sense if you read part 1 first...

The following types of parks are not unique to Florida, but are included for comparison.

NATIONAL FOREST

National Forests are areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas focuses on timber harvesting, livestock grazing, water management, wildlife management, and recreation. 

Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by the National Park Service, commercial use of national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged. In the United States there are 158 National Forests containing over 190 million acres of land. These lands comprise almost 9 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area the size of Texas.

NATIONAL PARK

The National Park Service is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior founded in 1916. There are nearly 400 Parks, Monuments, and other places that host more than 275 million visitors every year, and cover 84,000,000 acres of land. The NPS also helps administer dozens of affiliated sites, the National Register of Historic Places, National Heritage Areas, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Historic Landmarks, and National Trails.

The fundamental purpose of the NPS “is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Yellowstone National Park was established by Congress as the nation’s (and the world’s) first national park on March 1, 1872. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is the largest unit with 13.2 million acres. 

PRIVATE PRESERVES

Many environmental organizations are taking an active role in wildlife conservation. The five largest national and state land trusts protect over 14 million acres of land in the United States. Land trusts are nonprofit organizations directly involved in protecting environmentally significant lands. These are not public lands per se, but many invite the public to their lands to educate and “infect them with the awe due to nature.”

The Nature Conservancy is the largest private nonprofit conservation organization. With over one million members, it manages the largest system of private sanctuaries in the world, protecting over 70 million acres worldwide. Operation Stronghold, Ducks Unlimited, the Isaac Walton League, Boone and Crocket Club, and the Audubon Society also have preserves and nature centers. There are hundreds of small land trusts and preservation societies across the United States saving wilderness and most invite the public to share their preserves and parks.




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Wildlife in Florida Parks, Forests, Preserves....