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National Park Quiz 45: Green

Do you recognize this viewscape? Photo by rickz via Flickr.

Note: The term “National Park System unit” is herein used only in reference to the 391 units of the National Park System. Affiliated Areas and National Heritage Areas, for example, are not National Park System units.

1. Can you identify the vantage point from which the accompanying photograph was taken? To get full credit you’ll need to specify the overlook and the park in which it is located. (Remember to “think green”!)

2. Name a National Park System unit in the "Green Mountain State."

3. What is the only National Park System unit that has “green” as part of its name.

4. Which National Park System unit is in Greeneville, Tennessee?

5. Which National Park System unit in Virginia has a component called Green Spring?

6. In which city is Guilford Courthouse National Military Park located, and what was the name of the general in command of the American forces at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse? (Hint: This is a question with a “double green” answer.

7. Many green construction projects or major renovations in the national parks are described as “LEED certified” or are said to have a high LEED rating. To what does LEED refer?

8. Golfers putt on greens in all of the following National Park System units EXCEPT:
a. Golden Gate National Recreation Area
b. Rock Creek Park
c. Death Valley National Park
d. Shenandoah National Park

9. The iconic national park landform now known as ______ was called Green Mountain before its name was officially changed in 1918.
a. Cadillac Mountain
b. El Capitan
c. Clingmans Dome
d. Mount Rainier

10. A seasonally operated ferry shuttles cars across the Green River at
a. Dinosaur National Monument
b. Mammoth Cave National Park
c. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield
d. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Extra Credit Question:

11. A Union military unit consisting mostly of Irish immigrants, many of them fresh from the Emerald Isle, fought with distinction and took horrendous casualties at Antietam and Fredericksburg. Can you name this famous military unit?

Super Bonus Question:

12. The color printer at park headquarters has no green ink cartridge, so how does it produce the color green?

Answers:

(1) The photograph was taken from the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park, one of the better known photo ops in the National Park System.

(2) Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is home to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and a segment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

(3) Acquired from the Public Housing Authority nearly six decades ago (1950), Maryland’s Greenbelt Park is still the only National Park System unit whose name includes the term “green.”

(4) The Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is in Greenville, Tennessee.

(5) Colonial National Historic Park administers the Green Spring site, which contains remains of the 17th century plantation home of Virginia colonial governor Sir William Berkeley.

(6) Guilford Courthouse National Military Park is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. General Nathanael Greene commanded the American forces that were defeated in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781. (It proved to be a pyrrhic victory for the British forces, which took heavy casualties. Cornwallis soon abandoned the Carolinas, marched to Yorktown, and had to surrender his entire army.) BTW, give yourself another point if you spelled “Nathanael” correctly.

(7) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is “a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.”

(8) d -- Shenandoah National Park is a fine unit, but there’s no golf course on the property.

(9) a – Cadillac Mountain, the pride of Acadia National Park (and the highest mountain on the eastern seaboard) was called Green Mountain until it was officially renamed in 1918.

(10) b – Houchins Ferry, which recently opened for the season, shuttles cars across the Green River at Mammoth Cave National Park.

(11) This military unit was widely known as the Irish Brigade or the “Fighting 69th.” The latter descriptor (acquired at the Battle of Fredericksburg) is rooted in the fact that the initial or core regiment of the Irish Brigade was the 69th New York Infantry. The Irish Brigade, whose battle cry was the faugh a ballagh (“clear the way”), took 60 % casualties at Antietam’s “Bloody Lane” and over 80% casualties in the assault on Marye’s Heights at Fredericksburg.

(12) The printer has three ink cartridges, one for each of the three subtractive primary colors cyan, yellow, and magenta. To get the color green, the printer mixes cyan and yellow. Technically speaking, green is the primary color that subtracts magenta (red and blue) light.

Grading: 9 or 10 correct, rest on your laurels; 7 or 8 correct, pretty darn good; 6 correct, passable fair; 5 or fewer correct, nothing to brag about.

Comments

A major bungle on your part: you missed the Green Lake Room in Carlsbad Caverns National Park!

Shame on you! You need to get down here and see this fabulous park!

John


John, we have referred your remark to our Complaint Department, where I'm confident it will get all the attention that it deserves. Be sure to let us know if you don't get a reply within six weeks. Refer to complaint #031509-10363.


John -

Thanks for the suggestion! Wish I'd thought of the Green Lake Room myself.

Based on the number Bob assigned to your comment, it looks like he's a bit backlogged, but maybe we can encourage him to get out to Carlsbad :-)


John: I forgot to mention to mention that I've already seen your fine park. I was with that University of South Carolina tour group that came through in July 1985 -- the ones who arrived almost too late to catch the last elevator of the day down to the Big Room.


Bob--

If you only saw the Big Room via the elevator, it's time for you to go back to the park. You must walk down to the Big Room via the main entrance. It's stunning!

Rick Smith


Well, Rick, I did sit in that little amphitheater at the natural entrance and watch about a gazillion Mexican free-tail bats fly out at dusk to forage for mosquitoes and such. That should count for something, right?


It does count for something. It is, in fact, one of the most amazing wildlife displays in the whole National Park System. What is equally amazing is that there are often more than 500 visitors who attend this nightly show.

Now, the real bat aficionados also would not miss the once-a-year bat flight breakfast that allows people to see the bats returning to the cave following their evening foraging. It is a special treat.

Rick Smith


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