10. Gateway Arch National Park
Gateway Arch, the most controversial US National Park. Now I’m not big on arguing so let's just see what this park is about. It’s fairly new to being a national park established February 22nd 2018. But was previously the Jefferson Memorial And the Arch was built back in the 60s. The reason there is controversy over this park is that every US National park has a decent chunk of land and nature while Gateway Arch is the smallest of all with just under 200 acres. The next smallest Park, would be Hot Springs, and that still has at least 5000 acres. So it’s a big difference. I mentioned in the last video how there were two national parks that were decommissioned. Mackinac island was the Us 2nd National Park and another pretty small park at just 1800 acres. However upon further research. It seems like it was less about size and more of the Army no longer needed the now historic fort on the Island that made the change. So the park was decommissioned became Michigan’s first state park.
So I got curious.... What is the definition of a national park? What I found is, A National Park is a nature park designated for conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. So some say Gateway Arch fits the bill while others think it should have become a national monument like the Statue of Liberty. I went on a rabbit trail trying to learn the difference of the 433 National units like the Forests, shorelines, or monuments compared to what makes up our 63 National parks. The management is one key difference: The department of agriculture and department of interior. But another key difference is the purpose. While National Parks are about preservation, barely altering the park and land, National Forests are managed for many purposes— lumber, cattle grazing, mineral products, and recreation (with and without vehicles. There’s lots more info on the internet but hopefully that helps a little.
So, Whether it should have become a national park or not, the actual arch is pretty cool. Made of stainless steel and standing 630 feet tall (it’s the tallest arch in the world.) You can even take a tram to the top and look out over St. Louis.
Often called the Gateway to the west, the nickname comes from the fact that for a long time almost all traffic to the west flowed through Missouri including Lewis and Clark as it was said to be the start of their long expedition.
Like Yosemite this painting was also commissioned by another client of mine. It still wasn’t until I’d painted a few more parks that I finally decided to paint all 63 national parks
Let me know, Have you seen the Gateway arch? Tell me about your experience in the comments!