Custer National Park

While I was looking for inspiration for writing the blogs because for a few months I came to a complete halt, reading through some of the postings, one that truly struck me was the conservation, or lack thereof, for national parks. While I was growing up, my family and I took a vacation to Custer National Park in South Dakota. Since I was only 8 when the trip was taken, I, at the time, did not understand the full beauty and the NECESSITY for the park. I remember driving around, seeing all the hills, the contrasting flat land, as well as the way that one could see clearly into the sky without any smog or "city-like" smoke. When I was little I do remember thinking of how beautiful the land was, but looking back, I'm able to appreciate it sooo much more! While driving through the park, I also remember the animals which I encountered. There were buffalo that would stand on the road and refused to move so my family and I could do nothing, BUT observe the park for it's natural beauty. While there I also saw prairie dogs that were the cutest things I had ever seen in the rodent family to be perfectly honest. I became fascinated with them for many years after :) THe park did an amazing job on talking about all the animals that we encountered and described how each one of them has a a home in the park for there are few areas outside the park that they can live in without disruption. The prairie dogs are one of the most likely to be disturbed outside the park since they are so small and burrow underground like many other rodents, it would be difficult for them to be safe outside the park since they would be considered a "nuisance" outside of it. While I learned about these animals 11 years ago, I did not understand how useful and protecting the park was to these creatures and their habitat but now that I am 20 and have read that statement that the congressman wanted to limit the amount of space the parks have so that more land can be used for development, it makes me sick. These animals could risk endangerment just so we can have more homes that won't sell or will eventually be abandoned for the "next best thing". This park and its beauty are astounding and anyone of you who love to just drive with the windows down and listen to the wind and the noises outside, I recommend you go here! Not only is it an aesthetically pleasing experience, it's an educational one as well...What would Carlson think? Would it suffice since education is given then the experience occurs...can we aesthetically appreciate it?