National parks, refuges to appear on quarter-dollar coins

Do you have a favorite national park or national wildlife refuge? Maybe you'll see on the tail side of a quarter after April 2010. That's when the America the Beautiful Quarters Program will begin producing 56 coins with a national park, refuge or forest on the reverse sides.

“The new quarter program recognizes that public places of inspiration and recreation have always been important to Americans,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “The quarters highlight the diversity and magnificence of 48 National Park Service sites and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges cared for by the Department of the Interior as well as six national forests administered by the Department of Agriculture. Hopefully the coins will encourage people to learn more about each area and its significance to our heritage.”

The first quarter will highlight Hot Springs National Park (Hot Springs, Ark.), which was established as Hot Springs Reservation in 1832. A new coin will appear 10 weeks later for the next 11 years.

The 56 designs encompass a site from each state plus the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The complete list of parks, refuges and forests appears here.

Above: In 2007, the planting of Maurice tulips commemorated the 175th anniversary of the creation of Hot Springs Reservation.