Visitors view the Santa Elena Canyon on Aug. 14 in Big Bend National Park in Texas. Contractors have begun construction of the Trump administration’s 30-foot southern border wall through the park. 

Across the country, children are returning to school, eager to tell their friends what they did during their summer vacation. For millions of kids, this includes a story about the national park they visited. Whether it was hiking to see Half Dome in Yosemite, the bison and prairie dogs in Badlands or the more than 30 sites in Washington, D.C., families across the country had the opportunity to enjoy and explore something unique to America.

Aug. 25 marked 110 years of the National Park Service, a fundamental idea and creation that the Sierra Club proudly supported, with a club member serving as its first director. I am the executive director of the Sierra Club, and over its 134-year history, the organization is deeply proud of its commitment to protecting our wild and special places for everyone to enjoy. 

The National Park System represents the fundamental idea that the natural beauty of this country and its wildest places are worth protecting — and that they belong to all of us, not just the elite or privileged few. Public lands are a perfect example of democracy in action, and protecting them is a profound act of patriotism.

Article continues below this ad

But today, the threats to our national parks have never been greater. If we fail to meet this moment, we may lose so much of what we cherish.

Across his two........

© San Francisco Chronicle