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Table of Contents

"One of the great ironies of the American park system is that it was assembled without benefit of a blueprint. What we enjoy today has been stitched together over more than a century like a giant quilt—park by park—by the loving hands of thousands of people who wanted to save something precious for their children and grandchildren. In the words of former Park Service Director Russell Dickinson, 'It is hard to imagine how even a conscious plan could have achieved so much so well.'"
— Stewart L. Udall
Udall, S. L. 1995. Foreword to Our National Park System: Caring for America’s greatest natural and historical treasures, by D. F. Rettie. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Page x.