Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree’s 800,000 acres include three California ecosystems: the Colorado Desert, Little San Bernardino Mountains, and Mojave Desert, each wtih distinctive wildlife.

Joshua Tree Nat'l Park is known for its sculptural rock formations and the bizarre Joshua Tree, which is actually a giant member of the lily family!

Glacier Bay
Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park was covered by a 4,000 feet thick glacier 200 years ago… By 1916, the glacier had melted back, revealing Glacier bay’s islands. This is an ecosystem that started over from scratch when the ice melted!

The park includes glaciers, mountains, coastlines, lakes and rivers, and hosts a variety of land and marine wildlife

Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park resides in the Appalachian Mountains, on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Scientists believe up to 100,000 species live in the park. Why such diversity? Because of the park’s range in altitude and temperature, it can host many kinds of life. Also, during the last ice age, the mountains were a refuge for animals escaping the ice.

Everglades
The Everglades hosts many rare and endangered species, including the American crocodile, the Florida panther, and West Indian manatee.

It is such a valuable ecosystem that it has been chosen as a Wold HeritageSite and a Wetland of International Importance.

Giant Redwoods
Until the 1800s, the north California coast was dotted with Giant Redwood Trees like those in Muir Woods.

Congressman William Kent noticed that Muir Woods was the Bay Area’s last uncut strand of old-growth redwoods and purchased the land
in 1905. He then donated the land to the U.S. government and it was declared a national monument.