24 Stunning Photos Of National Parks That Prove They're Worth Fighting For

Over the last few days, employees at the National Park Service have defied a gag order supposedly enforced by the Trump administration to inform the public of the threat that global warming and the new president pose to our delicate landscapes. 

It's well-known that President Trump doesn't believe that humans are causing global warming. He refuses to believe 99.99% of scientists, and has accused the Chinese of inventing global warming to make American manufacturing less competitive.

The United States is unlike any country in the immense amount of landscapes and ecosystems available to us. Here's a reminder of what the National Parks Service does for us. 

According to a legend of the Paiute Native Americans, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, was once inhabited by animals that changed themselves into people. But after they were bad, Coyote froze them in rock. And with the park's immense rock structures, it's easy to see how millions of years of erosion gave birth to such fables.

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Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, is home to the largest cave system in the world. So far, only 400 miles of the vast chambers and labyrinths have been explored. 

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If you want to see what America looked like before European settlers, there's no better place than Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. The site is home to over 600 cliff dwellings. 

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Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska, is one of our most beautiful parks, and one of the most fragile. Home to 40 glaciers, and an incredible array of wildlife, visitors flock to see the glaciers push massive chunks of ice into the bays below. 

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Zion National Park, Utah, is one of the most popular hiking spots in the world. Walkers wade through waist-deep water at the bottom of vast canyons that are 1,000 feet tall and just a few feet wide in places. 

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Yosemite National Park, California, is best known for its immense waterfalls, but it's also a treasure trove of deep valleys and magnificent mountains. 

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Arches National Park is home to over 2,000 natural arches, with each one a geological marvel formed over millions of years. 

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Saguaro National Park, Arizona, is home to massive cacti that stand guard over the landscape. Some may reach over 50 feet tall and stand for 200 years with up to 40 twisting arms.

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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, is one of the most volcanically active areas in the world. With over 10,000 mud pots, hot springs, and geysers, it's easy to mistake for a distant alien world. 

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The Everglades, Florida, may not impress at first sight, but the area is one of the most biologically diverse in the world. The park is home to several different ecosystems, 200 types of fish, 350 species of birds, 120 different kinds of trees and more than 1,000 kinds of plants. 

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Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is one of the few places on his planet where you can witness new land being born before your eyes. With two active volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, more than 500 acres of new land have been added since 1983. 

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Acadia National Park, Maine, is the first in the country to see the sun’s rays. From rugged shorelines to quaint coves, this 50,000-acre park is perhaps one of the most beautiful in the country.

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from Distractify http://distractify.com/news/2017/01/26/national-parks-photos