|
|
|
|
National Park Service
|
| |
|
| |
The National Park Service (NPS) is the U.S. federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.
It is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, which is a Cabinet Office of the executive branch, overseen by the Secretary of the Interior, 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 units, of which 58 are designated national parks.
History
National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'National Park Service' Start a new discussion about 'National Park Service' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The National Park Service (NPS) is the U.S. federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.
It is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, which is a Cabinet Office of the executive branch, overseen by the Secretary of the Interior, 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 units, of which 58 are designated national parks.
History
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. 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." Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS.
On March 3, 1933, President Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933. The act would allow the President to reorganize the Executive Branch of the United States Government. It wasn't until later that summer when the new President Franklin Roosevelt made use of this power. Deputy Director Horace Albright had suggested to President Roosevelt that the historic sites from the American Civil War should be managed by the National Park Service, rather than the War Department. President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive Orders to make it happen. These two executive orders not only transferred all the War Department historic sites to the relatively new National Park Service, they also transferred the National Monument managed by the Department of Agriculture and the parks in and around the capital, which had been run by an independent office.
In 1951,Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service and went to work on bringing park facilities up to the standards that the public expected. The demand for parks after the end of the Second World War had left the parks over burdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with President Eisenhowers support, he began Mission 66 a ten year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th Anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded..
Directors
| Name | Term of Office |
|---|
| Start | End |
|---|
| 1 | Stephen Mather | May 16, 1917 | January 8, 1929 | | 2 | Horace M. Albright | January 12, 1929 | August 9, 1933 | | 3 | Arno B. Cammerer | August 10, 1933 | August 9, 1940 | | 4 | Newton B. Drury | August 20, 1940 | March 31, 1951 | | 5 | Arthur E. Demaray | April 1, 1951 | December 8, 1951 | | 6 | Conrad L. Wirth | December 9, 1951 | January 7, 1964 | | 7 | George B. Hartzog, Jr. | January 9, 1964 | December 31, 1972 | | 8 | Ronald H. Walker | January 7, 1973 | January 3, 1975 | | 9 | Gary Everhardt | January 13, 1975 | May 27, 1977 | | 10 | William J. Whalen | July 5, 1977 | May 13, 1980 | | 11 | Russell E. Dickenson | May 15, 1980 | March 3, 1985 | | 12 | William Penn Mott, Jr. | May 17, 1985 | April 16, 1989 | | 13 | James M. Ridenour | April 17, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | | 14 | Roger G. Kennedy | June 1, 1993 | March 29, 1997 | | 15 | Robert Stanton | August 4, 1997 | January, 2001 | | 16 | Fran P. Mainella | July 18, 2001 | October 15, 2006 | | 17 | Mary A. Bomar | October 17, 2006 | January 20, 2009 |
National Park System
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 kmē), of which more than 4.3 million acres (17,000 kmē) remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres (53,000 kmē) 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 mē).
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".
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 kmē). 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.
National Parks
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 in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, many with varying designations as Congress created them.
National Park Service holdings
| Type | Amount |
|---|
| Acres of Land | | | Acres of oceans, lakes, reservoirs | | | Miles of perennial rivers and streams | | | archeological sites | 68,561 | | miles of shoreline | | | historic structures | 27,000 | | objects in museum collections | 121,603,193 | | Buildings | 21,000 | | Trails | | | Roads | | |
Criteria
Parks may be established in either of two ways. By an Act of Congress or an Executive Order of the President under the Antiquities Act. Most have been established by an Act of Congress with the Presdident confirming the action by signing the Act into law. Regardless of the method used, all parks are to be of national importance.
National Significance
A potential park should meet all four of the following standards:
- it is an outstanding example of a particular type of resource.
- it possesses exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the natural or cultural themes of our Nation's Heritage.
- it offers superlative opportunities for recreation, for public use and enjoyment, or for scientific study.
- it retains a high degree of integrity as a true, accurate, and relatively unspoiled example of the resource.
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.
| Classification as of 2003 | Number | Acreage |
|---|
| National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, National Military Park, and National Battlefield Site | 24 | 64,738.87 | | National Historical Park, National Historic Site, and International Historic Site | 120 | 204,840.71 | | National Lakeshore | 4 | 228,873.58 | | National Memorial | 28 | 10,541.50 | | National Monument | 73 | 2,277,010.75 | | National Park | 58 | 51,961,285.92 | | National Parkway | 4 | 176,344.29 | | National Preserve and National Reserve | 20 | 24,189,328.85 | | National Recreation Area | 18 | 3,692,664.98 | | National River and National Wild and Scenic River and Riverway | 15 | 746,357.19 | | National Scenic Trail | 3 | 237,995.55 | | National Seashore | 10 | 595,078.55 | | Other Designations (White House, National Mall, etc) | 11 | 40,128.85 | | Totals | 388 | 84,425,189.59 |
National Parks include a range of superb natural and cultural wonders. The first National Park was Yellowstone National Park in 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, 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 Recreation Areas in the park system, originally, were units (such as Lake Mead National Recreation Area) surrounding reservoirs impounded by dams built by other federal agencies. Many of these areas are managed under cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. The concept has grown to include other lands and waters set aside by acts of Congress for recreational use and now includes major areas in urban centers as an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC). This resulted, in part, with Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, encompassing significant cultural as well as natural resources. There are also national recreation areas that are administered by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, outside the National Park System.
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, fishing and some mining are allowed. Big Cypress National Preserve and Big Thicket National Preserve were created in 1974 as the first National 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 the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park and the Fort Baker Retreat and Conference Center 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
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 designated a National Historic Landmark.
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 the 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, the Challenge Cost Share Program, the Federal Lands to Parks, the Hydropower Relicensing Program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the National Trails System and the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program.
Centers
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.
National Park Service-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.
Preservation programs
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.
HABS/HAER produces 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.
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, 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.
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.
Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program
The RTCA program of the National Park Service is designed to assist local communities and the public in preservation 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 better known programs is Rails to Trails, where unused railroad right-of-ways are converted into public hiking and biking trails.
National Trails System
The National Trails System is a joint mission of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. 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.
National Scenic Trails
National Historic Trails
World Heritage Sites
World Heritage Sites have enough universally recognized natural and cultural features that they are considered to merit the protection of all the peoples in the world. The National Park Service is responsible for 16 of the 19 World Heritage Sites in the United States.
The following sites are not managed by the National Park Service:
Initiatives
- Wildland Fire - Fires have been a natural part of park eco-systems. Many plants and some animals require a cycle of fire or flooding to be successful and productive. With the advent of human intervention and pubilc access to parks, there are safety concerns for the visiting public.
- Climate Change - Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident frmo observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global sea levels. (Intergovernmetnal Panel on Climate Change, 2007).
- Wetlands - Wetlands inclues marshes, swamps, and bogs. These areas and the plants and animals adapted to these conditions spread from the arctic to the equator. The shrinking wetlands provide habitat for fish and wildlife, help clean water and reduce the impact of storms and floods on the surrounding communities.
- Biological Diversity - Biological Diversity is the vast variety of life as identified through species and genetics. This variety is decreasing as people spread across the globe, altering areas to better meet their needs.
Controversy
- Hetch Hetchy Valley, in Yosemite National Park was dammed in 1923 after a controversial effort by the City of San Francisco to expand it's water supply after the 1906 earthquake.
- Yellowstone fires of 1988 at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
- Cerro Grande Fire of 2000 at Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
Regulatory Impacts
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.
See also
External links
-
-
-
- ("national monument" vs "national park", etc.)
- (does not include National Park System units of any other designation)
-
- from The Federal Register
-
- , including an administrative history and a list of regional offices of the National Park Service up to 1988
- , the Congressionally chartered national charitable partner of America's National Parks
-
|
| |
|
|
