国家公园不仅有公园

在英文中，"公园"是指有林地、花草和弯曲小径的供人消闲的环境。然而，美国国家公园管理局(National Park Service)所管辖的一些地方并不符合这种定义。如果查阅国家公园管理局系统中的391个"单位"名称，人们便会发现，它们当中除了公园以外，还包括战场遗址、军事公园、历史遗迹、纪念碑/园/馆、保护地/物、河流、海滨及步道等等。

自从1872年美国建立第一个国家公园——黄石公园(Yellowstone)——至今已经有130多年。其实，当1916年国家公园管理局成立时，黄石公园可谓已经步入中年。国家公园管理局是一个负责监管国家宝贵景区景点的联邦政府机构。过去几十年来，人们对哪些景点景物需要联邦政府保护的认识不断变化，不断发展。

无论其正式名称是纪念地、公园、历史遗址、还是20个类别中的任何一种，凡是前代人选择给与特别保护和保留的地方，在很大程度上都体现着美国的价值观和美国希望后代了解的历史经历。

国家公园体系(National Parks)包括多种资源，涵盖大片陆地和水域，旨在使那些地方的自然资源得到充分保护。 位于美国东南部的大烟山(Great Smoky Mountains)和西南部的大峡谷(Grand Canyon)分别是最富吸引力的国家公园之一。

国家保护地/物(National Monuments)是指保存着至少一项对国家有重要意义的景物的地方。位于亚利桑那州的德谢峡谷(Canyon de Chelly)和卡萨格兰德废墟(Casa Grande Ruins)为古代人类居住遗址，因此被确定为国家保护地。纽约港的自由女神像(Statue of Liberty)是1876年美国百年诞辰时法国赠送给美国的礼物，因此被确定为国家保护对象。

国家历史公园和遗址(National Historic Parks and Sites)是标志着给国家命运带来重大转变的地方，也包括军事公园和战场遗址。在国家独立历史公园(Independence National Historical Park)中包含着宾州费城的一些建筑和场所，反叛英国的美洲殖民者当年在这里起草了摆脱英王统治的独立宣言。加州东部的曼扎拿国家历史遗址(Manzanar National Historic Site)是美国日本裔在第二次世界大战期间被监禁的地方。位于宾夕法尼亚州的葛底斯堡国家军事公园(Gettysburg National Military Park)则是美国南北战争在1863年的一个重要战场。

国家纪念碑/园/馆(National Memorials)主要为一种纪念标志，并不一定与所代表的人物事件有直接的地理对应关系。首都华盛顿分别坐落着缅怀第二次世界大战、韩战和越战阵亡将士的纪念建筑。另外，人们也常见到与前总统相关的建筑，例如雕塑或故居等。

国家公园公路、海滨、湖滨、河流、河道、风景步道和休闲娱乐区等也在国家公园管理局管辖的近400个"单位"之列。

另外一个独立成类的"单位"是位于首都华盛顿郊区弗吉尼亚州北部的狼井国家表演艺术公园(Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts)。在这里的半露天舞台上每年夏季要上演近百场各种艺术形式的节目，例如，2008年夏季的节目单上有国家交响乐团(National Symphony Orchestra)、吉尔伯特与沙利文演出公司(Gilbert and Sullivan)、乡村歌手特丽莎·耶尔伍德(Trisha Yearwood)以及爵士吉他手乔治·本森(George Benson)的演出。

When a Park Is Not a Park

A park, by the common English definition, is an environment with woodlands, flowers, and winding paths where one goes for recreation. But some sites maintained by the National Park Service don’t fit this description at all. Browse through the index of the 391 “units” in the NPS system, and you’ll find battlefields, military parks, historic sites, memorials, monuments, rivers, seashores, and trails. And parks, too.

More than 130 years have passed since the designation in 1872 of the first national park in the United States. In fact, that first park -- Yellowstone -- had entered middle age by the time the National Park Service was created in 1916 to be the agency responsible for overseeing these treasured national places. Over the decades, ideas on the sites that merit federal protections have varied and evolved.

Whether they are officially known as monuments, parks, historic sites, or one of the other 20 park categories, the places chosen by the generations for special protections and preservation reveal a lot about what the United States values and the story it wants to save for the future.

National Parks contain a variety of resources and encompass large land or water areas to help provide adequate protection of these natural features. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southeastern United States and the Grand Canyon in the Southwest are two of the most popular sites in this category.

National Monuments preserve at least one nationally significant resource. Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly (pronounced shay) and Casa Grande Ruins are both remnants of dwellings of ancient peoples and are designated national monuments. The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, given to the United States by the French in honor of America’s centennial in 1876, is also designated a national monument.

National Historic Parks and Sites mark places where the fate of the nation unfolded for better or worse, and may also include military parks and battlefields. Independence National Historical Park includes structures and sites in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where rebellious American colonists drew up their plans to declare independence from the British Crown. The Manzanar National Historic Site in eastern California protects and interprets the site where Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. This group also includes the Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) National Military Park, the scene of a significant battle in the U.S. Civil War in 1863.

National Memorials are primarily commemorative sites that do not necessarily have a direct geographic link to their subject. Memorials in Washington, D.C. pay tribute to World War II and to the Korean and Vietnam wars. The memorial designation is also frequently given to sites honoring former presidents, be they statues that honor leaders of the past or the actual residences of those individuals.

National parkways, seashores, lakeshores, rivers, river ways, scenic trails, and recreation areas are some of the other special designations for the almost 400 sites under National Park Service jurisdiction.

One national park “unit” in a category all its own is the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Located in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., nearly 100 performances are presented on the center’s stages each summer, featuring artists from a range of genres. In the summer of 2008, performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, a Gilbert and Sullivan operatic company, country singer Trisha Yearwood, and jazz guitarist George Benson are on the schedule.