Rio Grande and Sierra del Carmen range in Big Bend National Park, Texas
© Grant Ordelheide/Tandem Stills + Motio
This national park turns 75. A big birthday for Big Bend
Seventy-five years ago today, on June 12, 1944, Big Bend officially became a US national park. The park covers more than 800,000 acres in West Texas along the Mexico border. The vast protected area contains mountain, river, and desert ecosystems, including the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. But the ‘big’ doesn't stop there. Big Bend is home to 1,200 species of plants, over 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, and 56 species of reptiles. (We're not sure how many of those are snakes, if you're wondering.) Because of its remote location, Big Bend also has among the darkest skies ever measured in the contiguous US. So tonight, the only light you'll likely see is the glow from 75 birthday candles—and a few million stars.
Fannette Island surrounded by Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, California
Fireworks explode during Independence Day celebrations on July 4, 2021, in Washington, DC
'Vejrpigerne' ('The Weather Girls') sculpture on top of the Richshuset building in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mangrove forest in Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea, Thailand
An old kasbah in the Tafilalet region, Morocco
Lavender fields on the Valensole Plateau in Provence, France
Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Yasuní National Park in Amazonian Ecuador
