Appearances

From: https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-166/issue-8/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E34-1

SCOTT JONES’ QUEST OF ALL 419 NATIONAL PARKS

HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

OF ARIZONA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Scott Jones, who last summer completed a quest to see all 419 units of our National Park System, an impressive feat. Apparently, this wasn’t enough for Mr. Jones though, who added all the National Monuments and National Conservation Areas managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management just for good measure. On August 26, 2019, Mr Jones became the first person to visit all 478 of the federal protected lands he calls our nation’s Treasured Places.

The list includes some of our most iconic and inspiring landscapes (such as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone), and places that serve to interpret some of our most important historical lessons (Gettysburg and the Lincoln Memorial). Mr. Jones’ travels took him to both the best of America, and to places that help us remember the turbulent and even unsavory history that is part of our shared national experience. Mr. Jones is quick to admit that each trip was an education and his experiences at many sites were rich opportunities to understand more about himself and about the United States.

For instance, Mr. Jones spoke to local reporters about his moving experience at Topeka’s Brown V. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas, which chronicles the fight to end school segregation. He recalled walking down a hallway lined as video of people yelling racial epithets played around him—mimicking the experience of Linda Brown on her walk to school.

From Topeka to 477 other sites, the Treasured Places quest took almost 15 years and involved a lot of travel. Mr Jones started out just like anyone would, visiting places close to his home in Phoenix, Arizona, but he had to venture a bit further than most, with trips to interior Alaska, the Northern woods, and even the War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam, his farthest trip at over 6,500 miles.

Mr. Jones’ quest was not just a personal whim, he used it as an opportunity to inspire others. Through his blog and social media, he invited anyone interested to follow his adventures. Each of his quests are designed to encourage others to ‘‘just get out more’’ at whatever ability and with whatever time each of us has, whether for just a day trip or an epic adventure. His three slogans: explore eagerly, travel cheaply, and adventure often.

Many of his trips provide examples of how achievable and inexpensive it is to visit some of our nation’s exceptional public lands. He completed this quest while working full-time for conservation nonprofits and made a point of not counting any visits that were made for his job toward completion of the total goal.

But for Mr Jones, adventuring is a constant goal and his thirst for adventures is far from slaked. In 2016, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, he took an epic trip to visit 100 parks in 100 days. He examined every ‘‘World Largest Ball of Twine’’—all three of them—while making his way to every state in the U.S. In the future, he plans to climb to the highest point in every county in Arizona and he plans to visit 50 different countries by the time he turns 50.

A proud graduate of Arizona State University, Mr. Jones is a fanatic supporter of ASU Sun Devil football. Ever the explorer, even this interest has become another quest—Mr Jones has been to 8 of the 12 football stadiums of the PAC–12.

Now that his personal Treasured Places quest is complete, Mr. Jones continues to encourage others to undertake their own quests to visit these places with the help of his website, treasuredplaces.us.

Mr. Jones is an exemplary person, who transformed a personal interest in parks and special places into a quest that he has shared as an inspiring invitation. His efforts truly do encourage all of us to make the time and effort to ‘‘get out there more’’ and enjoy our country’s many treasured places.