|
|
 |
|
Copyright © 2001 Darren Smith and licensors. All rights reserved |
|
MARCH 17 |
| 1932 President Herbert Hoover proclaims 39 square miles in southern Colorado as Great Sand Dunes National Monument, protecting North America's tallest dunes which rise over 700 feet high against the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In November of 2000 the monument would be redesignated as a national monument and preserve of more than 150,000 acres, expanding the original property to include alpine lakes and tundra, six peaks over 13,000', ancient spruce and pine forests, large stands of aspen and cottonwood, grasslands, and wetlands. The 2000 legislation also called for eventually redesignating the
area as a national park, once the purchase of the adjoining 100,000 acre
Baca Ranch can be completed. |
| 1938 Salem Maritime, the first national historic site in the National Park System, is established to preserve and interpret the maritime history of New England and the United States. |
| 1976 Oklahoma's Sulphur Springs Reservation is combined with Arbuckle National Recreation Area to create Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Popular for its water-based recreation, Chickasaw NRA is one of the most heavily visited parks for its size (9,889 acres) in the National Park System, with 3.4 million visitors a year. |
 |
 |
