History of U.S. National Park System

As the United States expanded its territories westward in the early and mid-19th century, American ventured out to explore those vast uncharted lands that stretched to the Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06 and subsequent forays by organized groups and by individuals brought back stories of remarkable wonders that had been seen in the West. It is no coincidence that the first national park was explored and established in the same decade that saw publication of a great variety of articles and books about nature and wilderness. Several of the writers associated with the national park movement, including Clarence Dutton, Ferdinand V. Hayden, Clarence King, Nathaniel P. Langford, John Muir, and John Wesley Powell, described the spectacular scenery of the western United States. The Appalachian Mountain Club, one of the first private conservation organizations, was founded in 1876 to protect and preserve eastern wilderness areas. In 1871 an expedition to the Yellowstone region led by Ferdinand V. Hayden and sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey included the photographer William H. Jackson and the painter Thomas Moran. The following year, Congress authorized the creation of Yellowstone as the country’s - and what is generally regarded as the world’s - first national park.

Congress established more than a dozen new national parks over the next several decades, including Yosemite, Carter Lake, and Glacier. Nonetheless, John Muir and others continued to express concerns that those locations and other sites of scenic beauty were not being adequately preserved. Muir had the opportunity to state his case directly to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt - who himself was an avid naturalist and outdoor enthusiast—when the two of them camped together in Yosemite in the summer of 1903. Three years later Congress passed the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the president the authority to preserve federal lands by designating them as national monuments. Roosevelt soon proclaimed the first monument, Devils Tower, and over the next 10 years more than 30 other such entities were proclaimed, some half of that total by Roosevelt.

The National Park Service was not established until 1916. For four decades the nation's parks, reserves, and monuments were supervised at different times by the departments of War, Agriculture, and the Interior. Although the idea of national parks enjoyed broad popular and congressional support by the early twentieth century, there was some resistance to converting reserves and monuments into new national parks. This was partially the result of a lack of coordinated policy and leadership in financing and administering the parks that already existed.

In 1914 Stephen Mather, a wealthy businessman, wrote the secretary of the interior about the poor condition of parks he had visited that summer in the Sierra Nevada. The secretary suggested that Mather work to improve the system by joining the department in D.C. Two years later, through the efforts of Mather and his assistant, Horace Albright, Congress passed what was dubbed the “Organic Act,” which authorized the formation of the NPS. Mather was named its first director. Mather was a leader in the transformation of the poorly managed and underfinanced national parks and monuments into the centrally administered National Park Service. He and Albright - his successor in 1929, created a corps of NPS superintendents and rangers who brought stability, order, and professionalism to the management of the national parks and monuments. Under their dynamic leadership, more than a dozen new national parks were established. He successfully lobbied for enabling legislation that ensured the future creation of other parks, including those that involved purchase from private owners in the eastern United States.

In 1933, shortly after Franklin D. Roosevelt became U.S. president, both the Interior Department and the NPS were reorganized. As part of the restructuring, many national monuments and historic sites that had been administered by other government agencies were transferred to NPS control, thus further consolidating the country’s scenic and historic places under a central authority. Also during the decade, new types of park units were introduced, including two national parkways, a national seashore, and a national recreation area.

The U.S. park system grew dramatically during the 1930s. The number of parks, monuments, historic sites, and other properties continued to increase in succeeding decades, reaching a peak in the 1970s, when some 75 units were designated. More types of park units were created, including the first national lakeshore, national scenic trail, national river , and national preserve. In addition to the many scenic places created, an increasing number of historic and culturally significant sites were established, including the homes and residences of past presidents, fossil sites, and the ruins of ancient National American communities.

By its centennial year 2016, the NPS had grown to include more than 400 sites scattered throughout all 50 U.S. states and 5 territories, including parks far offshore in the Caribbean and central Pacific Ocean. Park administration was divided into seven regions, each with a regional director and staff, which supervised the more than 20,000 NPS employees and hundreds of thousands of annual volunteers. Park rangers helped to maintain infrastructure, manage visitor activities, and act as guides and interpreters of the facilities in which they served. Concessions within the parks, such as restaurants and lodging, were provided by private vendors who competed for operating contracts that were subject to NPS oversight.

* Source: Britannica, National Park Service, by Kenneth Pletcher

** Source: Library of Congress, Brief History of the National Parks