America's Best Idea

America's Best Idea. New River Gorge National River. , New River Gorge National River is one of over 400 National Park areas that protect our natural and cultural treasures and tell our nation's stories. Whenever you pass by the National Park Service arrowhead symbol you have entered a special place in our nation. This symbol was designed to remind us of the purpose of the National Park System; to protect for today and preserve for the future our nation's natural and cultural heritage. Each object on the symbol represents an aspect of our natural resources: animals, plants, landscapes, and water, all inside the arrowhead which represents cultural resources., The beauty of the Gorge is obvious, but it is the complex inter-relationships of aquatic and forest ecosystems, the stories of early peoples, the industrial past, and the wisdom these things can give us for our path into the future, that makes New River Gorge National River and all of our other protected public lands vital to our nation. Whenever you visit a national park you are touching the true heart and soul of our nation., [Caption:] , New River Gorge National River preserves the core of a globally significant forest, containing the most diverse flora of any river gorge in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, and provides essential habitat for endangered species of plants and animals.