Tourism and Conservation in the National Parks

Below are some general discussion questions that can be adapted to many instructional settings:

1. How do the guidebooks included in this digital teaching collection illustrate how the United States government, businesses such as railroads and tourism companies, and others constructed the natural environment and influenced the various ways in which visitors were encouraged to experience the parks?
2. Read the series of letters between Abby Williams Hill, Horace Albright, John R. White, and Merel S. Sager in this digital teaching collection. What are some of the negative consequences of national park tourism discussed in these letters? What are the responses from government officials?
3. Think about how indigenous peoples are depicted in the guidebooks in this digital teaching collection. Do they appear at all? If so, how are they represented? How might this be different today?
4. Choose an area that you think your state should focus on protecting in the next decade. Why did you pick this area? What conservation methods can you see being used to protect this place?

Below are a few classroom activities that can be adapted to various instructional settings:

1. Compare and contrast the historical guidebooks with a modern guidebook for a popular national park in your state. (Note: Current guides for national parks are available on the park website. Example: https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/park-brochure.htm).  


2. Use the souvenir postcards from Mount Rainier and the national parks passes in this digital teaching collection as inspiration for a creative assignment. Create an Instagram post or logo using a program such as Canva that advertises a national park in your area. 


3. Create a guidebook for a place that is important to you. What rules and regulations would you include to ensure that place is protected, while still allowing visitors to enjoy the natural space? What features would you highlight? What and/or whose history would you choose to depict?