National Park Service turns 100 years old, Assateague NPS celebrates
On Thursday the nation celebrates a milestone birthday. The National Park Service turns 100 years old! To celebrate, the Assateague Island National Seashore is doing something pretty special for whoever visits this weekend.
100 years ago today, the National Park Service was signed into legislation as an official agency. Kelly Taylor, Maryland district supervisor for outreach education, says today, they have one mission. Taylor tells 47 ABC, “It’s really important that we recognize and preserve and protect these so that they’re here for future generations for other people to learn from.”
However, the National Park Service is a lot bigger than you may think. Taylor tells 47 ABC, “It’s not just places like Assateague Island National seashore but there are places like the National Mall and Edgar Allen Poes home and the Grand Canyon and working farms and anything that you can think of that is unique is probably protected by the National Park service.”
On Thursday, there were many people exploring and enjoying Assateague Island National seashore and all for free through Sunday. Taylor tells 47 ABC, “We’re moving into another century and it’s important for us to protect the core values of the National Park service you know to protect and preserve for future generations while at the same time just kind of creating opportunity for new traditions and new memories to be made. So it’s really an exciting time for us.”
Officials say although admission is free, guests will have to pay for certain activities. One of those activities offered was the Peep-lo where’s the plover? This is designed to teach folks how they protect the endangered, federally protected piping plovers.
A member of Assateagues avian monitoring team was on hand to show kids exactly what they do when searching for the birds and how they erect the fences that protect the birds. For more information on future events visit, https://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/2016-centennial-events.htm
