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Yosemite National Park

(Encyclopedia)Yosemite National Park yōsĕmˈĭtē [key], 748,436 acres (302,881 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890 as a result of the efforts of conservationist John Muir. Located in the Sierra Nevada, it is ...

Hetch Hetchy Valley

(Encyclopedia)Hetch Hetchy Valley, in Yosemite National Park, central Calif., on the Tuolumne River. It once rivaled Yosemite Valley in beauty and grandeur. O'Shaughnessy Dam (completed 1923; enl. 1938) turned the ...

Merced

(Encyclopedia)Merced mərsĕdˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 56,216), seat of Merced co., central Calif.; inc. 1889. It is a growing city and a center for tourism and farm trade in a cotton, fruit, and dairy region. Pref...

Owens

(Encyclopedia)Owens, river, c.120 mi (190 km) long, rising in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., SE of Yosemite National Park and flowing SE, to enter Owens Lake, near Mt. Whitney. Since 1913, at a point c.45 mi (70 km) ...

Madera

(Encyclopedia)Madera mədârˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 29,281), seat of Madera co., central Calif., in the San Joaquin valley; inc. 1907. Wine, machinery, consumer goods, and plastic products are produced, and a g...

Kings Canyon National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kings Canyon National Park, 461,901 acres (187,070 hectares), E central California. Largely wilderness, the park features summits of the High Sierra and two enormous canyons on the Kings River. Genera...

national parks and monuments

(Encyclopedia) CE5 national parks and monuments. The National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, was established in 1916 to oversee the administration of 40 national parks and monuments und...

Kruger National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kruger National Park, game reserve, c.8,000 sq mi (20,720 sq km), Limpopo and Mpumalanga, NE South Africa. One of the world's largest wildlife sanctuaries, it has almost every species of game found in...

Fiordland National Park

(Encyclopedia)Fiordland National Park, 4,868 sq mi (12,601 sq km), on the Tasman Sea, SW South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand's largest national park, it was established as a reserve in 1904 and designated a nati...

Kobuk Valley National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kobuk Valley National Park kōbo͝okˈ [key], 1,750,737 acres (709,048 hectares), NW Alaska. Located in rugged terrain N of the Arctic Circle, the park embraces the central valley of the Kobuk River, ...
 

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