The Ice Age National Scientific Reserve is an affiliated area of the National Park System of the United States comprising nine sites in Wisconsin that preserve geological evidence of glaciation. To protect the scientific and scenic value of the landforms, the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a cooperative reserve in 1964. The scientific reserve was established in 1971 and today encompasses some 32,500 acres (13,200 ha). The landforms are the result of the Wisconsin glaciation during the last glacial period, which lasted from about 110,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The nine units of the reserve, mostly Wisconsin state parks or other protected areas, are administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Several units are not yet developed for visitation, having only minimal trails and no interpretive experience. A plan is currently underway for the future development and management of the Cross Plains unit. Several of the sites are joined by the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, but the reserve is a separate entity. Units of the reserve that charge state park access fees also accept federal passes.
Read more about Ice Age National Scientific Reserve: Units
Famous quotes containing the words ice, age, national, scientific and/or reserve:
“‘Line in nature is not found;
Unit and universe are round;
In vain produced, all rays return;
Evil will bless, and ice will burn.’
As Uriel spoke with piercing eye,
A shudder ran around the sky;”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death.”
—Herman Melville (1819–91)
“What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility ... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
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—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)