National Park Service
National Park Service Arrowhead
Agency overview
Formed	August 25, 1916
Headquarters	Main Interior Building (MIB), Washington, D.C.
Employees	15,000 permanent, 5,000 seasonal
Annual Budget	$2.256 billion (2006)
Agency Executive	Mary A. Bomar, Director
Parent agency	Department of the Interior
Website
www.nps.gov

The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.^[1] It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.^[2]

It is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, which is a Cabinet Office of the executive branch, overseen by a Secretary nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Most of the direct management of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary to the National Park Service Director, who must now also be confirmed by the Senate.

The NPS oversees over 391 units, of which 58 are designated national parks.

History

Main article: History of the National Park Service (United States)

See also: National Park Service Act

National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. The movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior. They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational and recreational benefits.^[3] This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."^[4] Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS.^[5]

Special divisions

The United States Park Police is a distinct law enforcement division of the National Park Service, with jurisdiction in all NPS sites, but primarily utilized in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, New York City, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area in and around San Francisco. Law enforcement services in other NPS units are provided by specially commissioned park rangers. Other special NPS divisions include the Historic American Buildings Survey, National Register of Historic Places, National Natural Landmarks, the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program,^[6] the Challenge Cost Share Program,^[7] the Federal Lands to Parks,^[8] the Hydropower Relicensing Program,^[9] the Land and Water Conservation Fund,^[10] the National Trails System,^[11] and the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program.^[12]

Directors

Stephen Mather (center) and his staff, 1927 or 1928

Mary A. Bomar, NPS Director

See also: Park ranger

National Park System

See also: African-American Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service), Hispanic Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service), Native American Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service), and Women's History Sites (U.S. National Park Service)

Sample National Park Service pictographs

The National Park System is a term that describes the collection of all units managed by the National Park Service, and it is not necessary for the title or designation of the unit to include the term "park" - indeed most do not. The system encompasses approximately 84.4 million acres (338,000 km²), of which more than 4.3 million acres (17,000 km²) remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres (53,000 km²) it is over 16 percent of the entire system. The smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, at 0.02 acre (80 m²).

The National Park System (NPS) includes all properties managed by the National Park Service (also, confusingly, "NPS"). The System as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, and some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to metaphorically as "crown jewels".^[14]

In addition to "units", and other properties that the National Park Service either owns or administers, it also provides technical and financial assistance to several "affiliated areas" authorized by Congress. The largest affiliated area is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres (4711 km²). The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than one hundredth of an acre.

Although all units of the National Park System in the United States are the responsibility of a single agency, they are all managed under individual pieces of authorizing legislation or, in the case of national monuments created under the Antiquities Act, presidential proclamation. For example, because of provisons within their enabling legislation, Congaree National Park is almost entirely wilderness area, yet Yosemite allows unique developments such as the Badger Pass Ski Area and the O'Shaughnessy Dam within its boundaries. Death Valley National Park has an active mine legislated within its boundaries. Such irregularities would not be found in other parks unless specifically provided for by the legislation that creates it.

Many parks charge an entrance fee ranging from US$3 to $25 per week. Visitors can buy a federal interagency annual pass, known as the America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, allowing unlimited entry to federal fee areas (USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation) for $80 per year. This pass applies to entry fees, only. Other applicable fees such as camping, backcountry access, etc. still apply. Those U.S. citizens who are 62+ years old may purchase a version with the same privileges, for $10, and citizens with permanent disabilities may receive a free version.^[15]

National Parks

Grand Canyon National Park, south rim of canyon.

A National Park Service MD 900 helicopter

NPS Preliminary Survey party, Great Smoky Mountains, 1931

Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service manages each of the United States' National Parks, which have grown in number over the years to 58.

Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the world – in 1872, there was no state government to manage it, so the federal government assumed direct control. Yosemite National Park began as a state park; the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the State of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership.

At first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the civilian staff was replaced by the U.S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Tyng Mather petitioned the federal government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, the National Park Service, to manage all national parks and some national monuments. Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act^[16] in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, many with varying designations as Congress created them.

National Park Service holdings

Nomenclature of the National Park System

The National Park service uses 20+ different titles for the park units it manages. The best known are the National Parks and the National Monuments.

National Parks include a range of superb natural and cultural wonders. The first National Park was Yellowstone National Park, 1872.

National Monuments preserve a single unique cultural or natural feature. Devils Tower National Monument was the first in 1906.

National Historic Sites protect a significant cultural resource that is not a complicated site. Examples of these types of parks include: Ford's Theatre National Historic Site and William Howard Taft National Historic Site. National Historical Parks are larger areas with a more complex subject. Appomattox Court House National Historical Park was created in 1940. George Rogers Clark National Historical Park was dedicated in 1936. Historic sites may also be protected in National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, and Lakeshores.

National Military Parks, Battlefield Park, Battlefield site, and Battlefield preserve areas associated with military history. The different designations reflect the complexity of the event and the site. Many of the sites preserve important Revolutionary War battles and Civil War Battlefields. ‘Military Parks’ are larger actions such as Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park or Vicksburg National Military Park, Gettysburg National Military Park and Shiloh National Military Park, the original four from 1890. Examples of ‘Battlefield Parks’, ‘Battlefield Sites’, and ‘National Battlefields’ include: Richmond National Battlefield Park, Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, and Antietam National Battlefield.

National Seashores and National Lakeshores offer both preservation of the national coast line, while supporting water based recreation. Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created in 1937. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore were the first to be created in 1966.

National Rivers and Wild and Scenic Riverways protect free-flowing streams over their length. The riverways may not be altered with dams, channelization or other changes. Recreational pursuits are encouraged along the waterways. Ozark National Scenic Riverways was established in 1964. Many of these units are not part of the National Park System. The U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and other government agencies manage wild and scenic rivers.

The National Trails System preserves long distance routes across America. The system was created in 1968 and consists of two major components. National Scenic Trails are long-distance trails through some of the most scenic parts of the country. Scenic trails received official protection in 1968. The Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail are the best known of these trails. National Historic Trails commemorate the routes of major historic events. Some of the best known trails include: the Trail of Tears; Mormon Trail; and the Santa Fe Trail.

National Preserves are for the protection of certain resources. Activities like hunting and fishing and some mining are allowed. Big Cypress National Preserve and Big Thicket National Preserve were created in 1974 as the first Nat’l Preserves.

National Reserves are similar to National Preserves, but the operational authority can be placed with a local government. City of Rocks National Reserve was the first to be established in 1988.

Concessions

In an effort to increase visitation and allow for a larger audience to enjoy national park land, the National Park Service has numerous concession contracts with private businesses to bring recreation, resorts, and other compatible amenities to their parks. NPS lodging opportunities exist at places such as Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park and the Fort Baker Retreat and Conference Center (currently under renovation / construction, due to open in 2008) in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. "Adaptive reuses" like those at Fort Baker have raised some controversy, however, from concerns about the historical integrity of these buildings after such extensive renovations, and whether such alterations fall within the spirit and/or the letter of the preservation laws they are protected by.

At many Park Service sites a bookstore is operated by a non-profit cooperating association. The largest example is Eastern National, which runs bookstores in 30 states.

Offices

Main article: Organization of the National Park Service

Headquarters are located in Washington, D.C., with regional offices in Anchorage, Atlanta, Lakewood, CO (Denver), Omaha, NE, Oakland, CA, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

The headquarters building of the National Park Service Southwest Regional Office is architecturally signicant and is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Centers

Historic Preservation Training Center

The National Park Service operates four archeology-related centers: Harpers Ferry Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Southeast Archeological Center in Tallahassee, Florida, and the Western Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson, Arizona. The Harpers Ferry Center specializes in interpretive media development and object conservation. The other three focus to various degrees on archaeological research and museum object curation and conservation.

Training centers include: Horace Albright Training Center, Grand Canyon; Stephen Mather Training Center, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Historic Preservation Training Center, Frederick, Maryland; and Capital Training Center, Washington, D.C.

External to Operating the National Parks

The National Park Service host several major federal programs that support public recreation and preservation activities.

Historic American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)

As the oldest Federal preservation program, the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) produces graphic and written documentation of historically significant architectural, engineering, and industrial sites and structures. Dating from 1934, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) was chartered to document historic architecture--primarily houses and public buildings--of national or regional significance. Originally a New Deal employment/preservation program, after World War II, HABS employed summer teams of advanced undergraduate and graduate students to carry out the documentation, a tradition followed to this day. Many of the structures they documented no longer exist.

Photograph of El Santuario Del Senor Esquipula, Chimayo, New Mexico

HABS/HAER produce measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories of historic sites, structures, and objects that are significant to the architectural, engineering, and industrial heritage of the U.S. Its 25,000 records are part of the Library of Congress. HABS/HAER is administered by the NPS Washington office and five regional offices: ^[18]

Historic American Building Survey
In 1933 the National Park Service, Department of the Interior established the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) based on a proposal by Charles E. Peterson, and Park Service landscape architect. It was founded as a make-work program for architects, draftsmen, and photographers left jobless by the Great Depression. Guided by field instructions from Washington, D.C., the first recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of America's architectural heritage. After 70 years, there is now an archive of historic architecture. HABS provided a database of primary source material for the then fledgling historic preservation movement.

LaSalle Street Bridge, Chicago, Illinois

Historic American Engineering Record

Recognizing a similar fragility in our national industrial and engineering heritage, the National Park Service, the Library of Congress and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) formed the HAER program in 1969 to document nationally and regionally significant engineering and industrial sites. A short while later, HAER was ratified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). HAER documentation in the forms of measured and interpretive drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories, is archivally preserved in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, where it is readily available to the public.^[19]

Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA)

The RTCA program of the National Park Service is designed to assist local communities and the public in presrvation of rivers, trails and greenways. Unlike the mainline National Park Programs, these programs take place on non-federal property at the request of the local community. One of their bettern known programs is the 'Rails to Trails', where unused railroad right-of-ways are converted into public hiking and biking trails.^[20]

National Trails System

Main article: National Trails System (United States)

The National Trails System is a joint mission of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Servcie. It was created in 1968 to create a system of national trails. The system now consist of two groups, the National Scenic Trails and the National Historic Trails.^[21]

National Scenic Trails

• Appalachian National Scenic Trail
• Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
• Florida National Scenic Trail
• Ice Age National Scenic Trail
• Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
• North Country National Scenic Trail
• Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
• Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail

National Historic Trails

• Iditarod National Historic Trail
• Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
• Nez Perce (Nee-Mo-Poo) National Historic Trail
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Controversial Events

1. Yellowstone fires of 1988 at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
2. Cerro Grande Fire of 2000 at Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

Regulatory Impacts

• Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980
• Antiquities Act or Lacy Act of 1906
• Endangered Species Act
• Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1978
• Historic Sites Act of 1935
• Lacey Act of 1900 (Wildlife preservation)
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• National Park Service Organic Act
• National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA)
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA)
• National Wild and Scenic River of 1968
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
• Wilderness Act of 1964

See also

• Ansel Franklin Hall: the first Chief Naturalist and first Chief Forester of the National Park Service
• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Harry Yount: considered by many the progenitor of the modern national park ranger
• List of areas in the National Park System of the United States, by type of park unit, i.e., National Park, National Monument, National Historical Parks, etc.
• List of the United States National Park System official units, by state
• Forests of the United States
• Land and Water Conservation Fund
• National Park Foundation
• National Park Passport Stamps
• National Park Service Rustic, the style of architecture used in many National Park structures, also known as parkitecture.
• U.S. National Heritage Area
• U.S. National Memorial
• U.S. National Monument
• U.S. National Park Rangers
• Roadless Area Conservation Rule
• Combat Illegal Logging Act

References

Bibliography

• Albright, Horace M. (as told to Robert Cahn). The Birth of the National Park Service. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.
• Albright, Horace M, and Marian Albright Schenck. Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
• Dilsaver, Lary M., ed. America's National Park System: The Critical Documents. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994.
• Everhardt, William C. The National Park Service. New York: Praeger, 1972.
• Foresta, Ronald A. America's National Parks and Their Keepers. Washington: Resources for the Future, 1985.
• Garrison, Lemuel A;. The Making of a Ranger. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1983.
• Gartner, Bob; Exploring Careers in the National Parks. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 1993
• Hartzog, George B. Jr; Battling for the National Parks; Moyer Bell Limited; Mt. Kisco, New York; 1988
• Ise, John. Our National Park Policy: A Critical History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961.
• Lee, Ronald F.; Family Tree of the National Park System; Eastern National Parks, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1972
• Mackintosh, Barry. The National Parks: Shaping the System. Washington: National Park Service, 1991.
• National Parks for the 21st Century; The Vail Agenda; The Natinoal Prk Foundation, 1991
• National Park Service Almanac, Edited and Compiled by Ben Moffett and Vickie Carson: Rocky Mountain Region, National Park Service, 1991, revised 2006
• The National Parks: Shaping The System; National Park Service, Washington D.C. 1991.
• Rettie, Dwight F.; Our National Park System; University of Illinois Press; Urbana, Illinois; 1995
• Ridenour, James M. The National Parks Compromised: Pork Barrel Politics and America's Treasures. Merrillville, IN: ICS Books, 1994.
• Rothman, Hal K. Preserving Different Pasts: The American National Monuments. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
• Runte, Alfred. National Parks, the American Experience, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1987.
• Sellars, Richard West. Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
• Shankland, Robert; Steve Mather of the National Parks; Alfred A. Knopf, New York; 1970
• Sontag, William H. National Park Service: The First 75 Years. Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument Assn., 1991.
• Sutter, Paul. 2002. Driven Wild: How the Fight against Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness Movement. Seattle: University of Washington press. ISBN 0295982195.
• Swain, Donald. Wilderness Defender: Horace M. Albright and Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
• Udall, Stewart L., The Quiet Crisis. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963.
• Wirth, Conrad L. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.Shankland, Robert. Steve Mather of the National Parks. New York: Knopf, 1970.

External links

• NPS official site
• Community Assistance Available from the National Park Service
• Criteria for inclusion in the National Park System
• Designation of National Park System Units ("national monument" vs "national park", etc.)
• Gallery of all US National Parks (does not include National Park System units of any other designation)
• Gallery of National Park "Welcome" Signs
• National Park Service Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register RSS Feed
• National Park System Timeline
• Records of the National Park Service, including an administrative history and a list of regional offices of the National Park Service up to 1988
• National Park Foundation, the Congressionally chartered national charitable partner of America's National Parks

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