US-YELLOWSTONE:-AMERICA'S-FIRST-NATIONAL-PARK
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING - MAY 23: A grizzly bear sniffs the ground while walking through grasslands on May 23, 2026 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park became the nations first national park on March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed a congressional act protecting the land for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. Today, the 2.2-million-acre park thrives as part of one of Earth's last nearly intact large temperate ecosystems, famously preserving over 10,000 hydrothermal features and around 500 geysersroughly 50 percent of the worlds total. Boasting the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states, Yellowstone stands as the only place in the U.S. where bison have roamed continuously since prehistoric times. Native American communities inhabited and conserved the lands for over 10,000 years, with 27 individual tribes recognized by the National Park Service as carrying modern-day and historic ties to Yellowstone. National Park Week will celebrate Americas 250th anniversary with a weeklong celebration in August featuring hundreds of commemorative events at many of Americas 433 national parks under the theme Celebrate Americas Story. Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
foto Mario Tama
FotoID: HN:20260524724168
