--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That is all the National Parks are about…" description: "\"That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no harm.\" — Wallace Stegner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa8/wallace-stegner-1352_conservation_that-is-all-the-national-parks-are-about_1012072.png" --- # That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no… ![“That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no harm.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa8/wallace-stegner-1352_conservation_that-is-all-the-national-parks-are-about_1012072.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa8/wallace-stegner-1352_conservation_that-is-all-the-national-parks-are-about_1012072.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa8/wallace-stegner-1352_conservation_that-is-all-the-national-parks-are-about_1012072.png) > “That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no harm.” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. National Parks exist for enjoyment, but must be protected from harm. **In simple terms:** Enjoy nature responsibly. Key Takeaway Practice low‑impact recreation. Themes environment conservation recreation Mood thoughtful protective Type environmental ethical When to use this quote - hiking - camping - wildlife observation - tourism planning Key Concepts sustainability responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can visitors minimize impact? - What policies best protect parks? A Different Perspective Human presence can still cause damage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [National parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-parks/) ## Related quotes > [National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/national-parks-are-the-best-idea-we-ever-had-absolutely-american/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I've been through legislation creating a dozen national parks, and there's always the same pattern. When you first propose a park, and you visit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-udall/i-ve-been-through-legislation-creating-a-dozen-national-parks-and/) [Mo Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-udall/) > [National Parks are a part of the American experience. They evoke memories of childhood vacations and pride in the beauty of our national landscapes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hurd/national-parks-are-a-part-of-the-american-experience-they-evoke/) [Will Hurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hurd/) > [It is important that the remaining scenic areas of the country be at once made into State or National Parks. Fortunately there still are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enos-mills/it-is-important-that-the-remaining-scenic-areas-of-the-country-be-at/) [Enos Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enos-mills/) > [The influence of (the national parks) is far beyond what is usually esteemed or usually considered. It has a relation to efficiency -- the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-horace-mcfarland/the-influence-of-the-national-parks-is-far-beyond-what-is-usually/) J. Horace McFarland > [The national park idea has been nurtured by each succeeding generation of Americans. Today, across our land, the National Park System represents America at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-b-hartzog-jr/the-national-park-idea-has-been-nurtured-by-each-succeeding/) George B. Hartzog Jr > [“Don't forget what people intend to use for harm, God can use for His greater good. Let offenses slide today, and watch how God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alisa-hope-wagner/don-t-forget-what-people-intend-to-use-for-harm-god-can-use-for-his/) [alisa hope wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alisa-hope-wagner/) > [If the national park is, as Lord Bryce suggested, the best idea America has ever had, wilderness preservation is the highest refinement of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/if-the-national-park-is-as-lord-bryce-suggested-the-best-idea-america/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Do we allow unlimited visitation, or do we restrict numbers to protect a delicate ecosystem? Do we heavily advertise the park, enticing paying visitors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-e-reed/do-we-allow-unlimited-visitation-or-do-we-restrict-numbers-to-protect/) Mary E. Reed > [Everybody needs beauty as well as bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/everybody-needs-beauty-as-well-as-bread/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Without the support of local people, you might as well give up because you can make all the noise you like, you can demarcate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/without-the-support-of-local-people-you-might-as-well-give-up-because/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [“To all accusations of excessive development the administrators can reply, as they will if pressed hard enough, that they are giving the public what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/to-all-accusations-of-excessive-development-the-administrators-can/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [So when people go to the park this summer, they are not going to have the same quality of a visit. There is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norm-dicks/so-when-people-go-to-the-park-this-summer-they-are-not-going-to-have/) [Norm Dicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norm-dicks/) > [National parks are cathedrals of spirituality and emotion, and unfortunately, they are being loved to death by many of the same people who enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-frome/national-parks-are-cathedrals-of-spirituality-and-emotion-and/) [Michael Frome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-frome/) > [“How we treat our land, how we build upon it, how we act toward our air and water, in the long run, will tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/how-we-treat-our-land-how-we-build-upon-it-how-we-act-toward-our-air/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Conservation quotes > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Soft fantasy worlds have a much looser cause-and-effect relationship. Alchemists can turn lead into gold and nobody wonders about how it will impact the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/soft-fantasy-worlds-have-a-much-looser-cause-and-effect-relationship/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I am optimistic globally. So many scientists are working frantically on the reparation of our planet. Unfortunately there are countries who are still destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-irwin/i-am-optimistic-globally-so-many-scientists-are-working-frantically/) [Steve Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-irwin/) > [We must commit ourselves to an 'all of the above' energy approach, with a major focus on increasing domestic production and expanding alternatives fuels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-roskam/we-must-commit-ourselves-to-an-all-of-the-above-energy-approach-with/) [Peter Roskam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-roskam/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) Amy Ridenour > [Conservation is humanity caring for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-newhall/conservation-is-humanity-caring-for-the-future/) Nancy Newhall > [In our attempt to make conservation easy, we have made it trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/in-our-attempt-to-make-conservation-easy-we-have-made-it-trivial/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [When you defile the pleasant streams, And the wild bird's abiding place, You massacre a million dreams, And cast your spittle in God's face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-drinkwater/when-you-defile-the-pleasant-streams-and-the-wild-bird-s-abiding/) [John Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-drinkwater/) > [It's clear that it is in the best interest of business to be part of the conservation, along with governments and civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/it-s-clear-that-it-is-in-the-best-interest-of-business-to-be-part-of/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [To Jane Jacob’s three traditional urban values of civic space, human scale and diversity, the current environmental imperative adds two more: conservation and regionalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-calthorpe/to-jane-jacob-s-three-traditional-urban-values-of-civic-space-human/) Peter Calthorpe > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-nelson/there-is-no-domestic-issue-more-important-to-america-in-the-long-run/) [Gaylord Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-nelson/) > [The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-conservation-of-natural-resources-is-the-fundamental-problem/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Browse all 579 Conservation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That is all the National Parks are about. 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