The Book of the National Parks

About this film

Librivox recording of The Book of the National Parks by Robert Sterling Yard. Read by J. M. Smallheer. Robert Sterling Yard was an American writer, journalist, and wilderness activist. Born in Haverstraw, New York, Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the first twenty years of his career in the editing and publishing business. In 1915, he was recruited by his friend Stephen Mather to help publicize the need for an independent national park agency. Their numerous publications were part of a movement that resulted in legislative support for a National Park Service (NPS) in 1916. Yard worked to promote the national parks as well as educate Americans about their use. Creating high standards based on aesthetic ideals for park selection, he also opposed commercialism and industrialization of what he called "America's masterpieces". In 1935, he became one of the eight founding members of The Wilderness Society and acted as its first president from 1937 until his death eight years later. Yard is now considered an important figure in the modern wilderness movement. In the preface to this book, published in 1919, he writes, "In offering the American public a carefully studied o…

Directors & creators

Robert Sterling Yard

Subjects

librivox; audiobooks; nature; America; National Parks; Grand Canyon; Yellowstone; Yosemite; geology; scenery; history

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