Public Lands for the Public's Health
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers but as fountains of life.
—John Muir (1898)
A walk in the park is one of our finest cultural opportunities, a value that people expect to find available in their community.
—National Association of State Park Directors