Answer: If Yellowstone National Park, for example, were not federally protected, the canyon would surely be home to a logging community that would cut into valuable old-growth timber. In fact, according to an article in the Seattle Times from 1903 discussing what soon became Yellowstone National Park's boundaries--"A commercial promoter had surveyed them and planned a private railroad right-of-way along John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s land on its east side."
Only 12% of all land areas in the western United States is public property with federal protection status. These lands include national parks and monuments like Yosemite and Mt. McKinley Wilderness where exploration is often restricted or off limits because these regions are so fragile or valuable to wildlife that they need our help to secure it.
