Steam bluffs and volcanic landscape, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park / Rebecca Latson

Every month of the year has its own set of national park notables. August has seen the establishment not only of Lassen Volcanic, Virgin Islands, and Hawai’i Volcanoes national parks, but also the National Park Service and National Parks Traveler! So, this Quiz and Trivia piece is devoted to these August notables. See how much you know before checking the answers at the bottom.

1. How long has the National Parks Traveler been in existence?

              a) 10 years

              b) 12 years

              c) 17 years

              d) 20 years

National Park Service Logo / National Park Service

2. Which president signed the National Park Service into being in 1916?

              a) Woodrow Wilson

              b) William Taft

              c) Franklin Roosevelt

              d) Theodore Roosevelt

3. True or False: John Muir was the first director of the National Park Service.

              a) True

              b) False

4. True or False: The National Park Service only oversees national parks.

              a) True

              b) False

5. True or False: Mauna Kea is a volcano within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

              a) True

              b) False

Clouds over Brokeoff Mountain, Lassen Volcanic National Park / National Park Service

6. True or False: All four types of volcanoes can be found at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

              a) True

              b) False

Yellow Jack, Virgin Islands National Park / NPS-Susanna Pershern

7. Of the area comprising Virgin Islands National Park, how many are submerged acres?

              a) 7,259 acres

              b) 5,650 acres

              c) 3, 871 acres

              d) 8,325 acres

8. Virgin Islands National Park is one of _____ national parks (of the 63 national parks) that do not lie within the 50 United States.

              a) 2

              b) 3

              c) 4

              d) Virgin Islands National Park is the only national park that does not lie within the 50 United States.

9. True or False: Cold Boiling Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park really is boiling hot, despite its name.

              a) True

              b) False

A bright, red, ‘Ōhi‘a lehua blossom, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park / Rebecca Latson

10. There are eight varieties of ʻōhiʻa lehua trees in Hawaii, ____ of which are found in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

              a) two

              b) four

              c) six

              d) all eight

Trivia

Like other national parks, Virgin Islands National Park is now home to non-native, invasive species. “Many nonnative plants and animals have been introduced to St. John over the history of human habitation. Some of these plants and animals have become invasive. They destroy habitat, cause erosion, out-compete or predate native species, severely impacting or destroying local populations. None of the deer, goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, cats, dogs, mongoose, rats, or pigs found on St. John today are native species. People brought them here as pets, for agriculture, or as pest control. Some of the animals arrived by accident as stowaways in cargo brought to the island or as pets and domestic animals left to run wild. Today, these animals can severely impact native plants and animals. Mongoose are aggressive predators that feed on birds, reptiles, turtle eggs, and visitors' lunchboxes. Goats, deer, and donkeys feed on native vegetation, and they can also spread seeds of invasive plants. Pigs uproot plants and can be aggressive toward humans.”

The snow-dusted view of Lassen Peak from the park road, Lassen Volcanic National Park / National Park Service

You may have noticed as you are driving along the winding, precipitous portions of the Lassen National Park Highway that there are no guardrails. “This highway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As such, improvements that alter the historic quality cannot be made. To maintain this historic route and setting, you will not see any major modifications of that road to some of the current highway standards (passing lanes, emergency lanes, guard rails, etc) because of its historic significance and its original purpose to afford visitors a scenic drive that fits into the park's landscape.”

A bright red apapane in the ‘Ōhi‘a lehua, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park / NPS-J. Wei

“Well-known for its volcanic and geological significance, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is also one of the most fascinating biological landscapes in the world. Located more than 2,000 miles from the nearest continental land mass, the Hawaiian Archipelago is the most geographically isolated group of islands on Earth. Hawaiian plants and animals began to evolve over 70 million years ago in nearly complete isolation and over 90% of the native terrestrial flora and fauna in Hawaiʻi are found only in the Hawaiian islands. This level of endemism surpasses all other places on Earth— even the Galapagos Islands.”

Quiz Answers

1c

“In August 2005, the Traveler was launched as a means to generate ideas revolving around parks, the environment, and wildlife …” That means the Traveler is embarking on its 17th year this very month!

2a

President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a federal bureau in the Department of the Interior.

3b False

“Stephen Mather, a businessman who created the slogan “20 Mule Team” for a detergent company, was the first Park Service Director and played a big role in its expansion. It is part of the Department of the Interior.”

4b False

The National Park Service oversees not only national parks, but also helps run national monuments, national historic sites, national heritage areas, national wild and scenic rivers, national trails, and administers the National Register of Historic Places.

5b False

Mauna Loa (pictured in the header photo for this article) is located within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, along with Kilauea Volcano. Mauna Kea volcano is outside of the national park, but does host a number of observatories at its summit.

6a True

Shield (Prospect Peak), plug dome (Lassen Peak), cinder cone (Cinder Cone), and composite (Brokeoff Volcano) volcanoes are all found within Lassen Volcanic National Park.

7b

Virgin Islands National Park is comprised of 7,259 terrestrial acres and 5,650 submerged acres.

8a

Virgin Islands National Park is one of two national parks (out of the 63 national parks) that does not lie within the 50 United States. The other national park is National Park of American Samoa.

9b False

“Just like the name implies, a portion of the cold water lake appears to be boiling. This is caused from carbon dioxide gasses escaping to the surface through the water, giving it the appearance of boiling.”

10b

“There are eight varieties of ʻōhiʻa, four of which can be found in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. While the most common color of their flowers is red, they can also be various shades of yellow and orange. The nectar in these flowers is an important source of food for some species of native birds like honeycreepers. ‘Ōhi‘a lehua are the most abundant of Hawaiian native trees and perhaps the most iconic. Their bright red blossoms have come to symbolize native species. The trees are specially adapted to thrive in a volcanic landscape like the island of Hawaiʻi. They are one of the first plants to colonize new lava flows and possess stomata (pores in leaves that allow plants to breathe) that will close up in the presence of harmful gases, when many non-native trees will struggle or die back. In Native Hawaiian tradition, ʻōhiʻa are heavily associated with the volcanic deity Pele.”

References

In addition to the information taken from each NPS park website, the following references were used for this quiz and trivia piece.

https://www.aarp.org/travel/vacation-ideas/outdoors/info-2016/national-parks-quiz.html#quest1

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-national-park-service

https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/virgin-islands-national-park-ga.htm

https://www.nationalparked.com/lassen-volcanic

Note: Different websites may have different national park establishment dates, so, I used this NPS publication as the standard.