Google explores U.S. National Parks with new Doodle

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Google is celebrating the National Park Service's 100 year anniversary with a new Doodle that explores various national parks located around the United States.

Released Thursday, visiting Google's homepage will treat users to an animated short which highlights various animals that can found in parks and monuments throughout the country including tortoises, moose and egrets.

Locations such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Devil's Tower are also featured.

The National Park Service was first designated in 1916 and helps protect 84 million acres of protected land in order for these national parks to be enjoyed.

"No longer were rivers a force to be dammed, virgin forests a source for board-feet, or mountainsides blasted for gemstones or coal. A wild river was as alive as the fish within it. A forest became a network of plants bound to rock, soil, and sky," says Shelton Johnson, a Yosemite National Park ranger and author who commented on the milestone to Google when discussing the Doodle.

"Now there are national parks in over 150 nations. The idea of parks has the power to transcend culture, a currency whose value speaks of something profoundly human," he continued.

The Doodle is also part of a larger initiative Google has started entitled The Hidden Worlds of National Parks, in which users can take virtual tours of parks seen in the animation alongside park rangers.