西奥多·罗斯福国家公园概况
所在地：西北达科他
建立日期：1978年
面积：285平方公里
地形：牧草地和崎岖地
主要景点：麋鹿角（Elkhorn）农场和罗斯福故居
野生动物：野牛、鹿、麋鹿、叉角羚羊、野马、美洲狮（非常罕见）、牧羊狗、草地鹨、弱小哺乳动物以及蛇
活动项目：护林员导游、交流会、游览泰迪·罗斯福的马泰塞·克罗斯（Maltese Cross）故居以及傍晚篝火节目；长途徒步旅行；赛马；乘汽车旅游；划艇；漂流；钓鱼；越野滑雪；雪地机动车赛和背包徒步旅行

座落在北达科他州崎岖地，位于埤斯麦以西217.3公里处的这座国家公园，以西奥多·罗斯福总统名字命名，这是向这位伟大的总统和他身为自然资源保护主义者精神的致敬。公园屹立在19世纪80年代罗斯福总统所拥有的土地上，当时，他为了帮助摆脱失去妻子和母亲的痛苦而来到西部，购买了这个养牛场。

这里是动植物的家园，物种丰富，包括野牛、草原土拨鼠以及麋鹿等，该公园还有许多可供旅游者观赏之处。在这里，旅行者可以从舒适的自驾车上欣赏美景，也可以体验徒步旅行或骑车穿过公园100多米的小道所带来的快感。

On the northern prairie of North Dakota, the day starts with a distinctive rhythm. Bison prepare for the mating season. The bulls bellow challenges that echo across the badlands. Prairie dogs bark shrill warnings at the approach of an intruder.

“You will be riding in a wilderness environment.”

And riders mount up to explore an area still best-travelled on horseback. All this is the legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt, who first visited and rode about this land in 1883.

“Well, probably the most profound item that he wrote about constantly was the solitude that one can find riding through the badlands. He found the beauty, you know, interested, he wrote about the grimly picturesque badlands which kinda describes this area perfectly today.”

“Theodore Roosevelt came out here in 1883 to hunt for a buffalo or bison. It was his dream to get one possibly before they were all gone.”

Roosevelt bagged his bison and went back east to a promising political career, not realizing he would soon return to the badlands. The Maltese Cross Cabin was Roosevelt’s first home here. It was a refuge from personal tragedy and political disappointment. Today the badlands Roosevelt roamed and loved are a national park that bears his name.

“We can not talk about conservation and national park service without talking about Theodore Roosevelt. During his term of presidency, he helped to establish five national parks. He also used a law, the Antiquities Act to set aside 18 national monuments.”

Theodore Roosevelt National Park preserves a prairie ecosystem that’s become increasingly rare.

“There’s a couple of plain.”

There are some things here Roosevelt wouldn’t recognize. By the 1880s, bison had been hunted nearly out of existence in this badlands. Since they were reintroduced in the 1950s, the herd has grown. Perhaps the thing that has changed the least here is solitude.

“I love going out to backcountry and hearing the nothingness, the quietness and experiencing the same thing that Theodore Roosevelt wrote about.”

He wrote of listening to the rustle of the cottonwood leaves, of winding his way among the barren, fantastic and grimly picturesque deserts of the badlands, a feeling and an attraction to the lonely freedom of the wilderness. That feeling is as real today as it was then.

New Words

badlands n. 荒地
intruder n. 侵入者，干扰者，妨碍者
solitude n. 孤独
grimly adv. 严格地，冷酷地，可怕地
picturesque adj. 如画的，生动的，别致的
refuge n. 避难(处), 庇护(所)