TYPES OF NATIONAL MONUMENTS
(Photo: National Monuments by Alaskan Dude)
The national monuments may be divided into four general classes—prehistoric, historic, geologic, and biologic. In the first two classes fall the ruins of the homes of the peoples who inhabited the United States before the coming of the white man and whose history is unknown except as it can be pieced together from the type of homes they built and the artifacts found in the ruins; and the ruins of structures built by the early white men, such as the old Spanish missions of the Southwest and the stockade at Pipe Spring, Ariz., built by the first settlers of the region. The geologic monuments contain volcanic phenomena, ledges of rock eroded in striking form, limestone caves, petrified trees and plants, and the fossil remains of prehistoric reptilian life. The biological national monument administered by the National Park Service contains a remarkable growth of trees, while another monument administered by the Department of Agriculture was created to preserve the Olympic or Roosevelt species of elk.
ADMINISTRATION AND PROTECTION
At the present time there are 73 national monuments. Of these, most are administered by the Department of the Interior, 16 by the Department of Agriculture, and 16 by the War Department. The monuments that are placed under the War Department are those of historic interest from the standpoint of military operations, while those under the Department of Agriculture are areas surrounded by national forests, which can be protected by the Forest Service in connection with its forest work. All the other national monuments so far created have been placed under the control of the Department of the Interior and are administered by the Director of the National Park Service in accordance with the act of August 25, 1916, establishing the service.
About AdvenQuest