United States National Park Service

Congress established Yellowstone National Park in 1872, decades before a National Park Service existed. Subsequent parks and monuments belonged to several federal administrations, including the Interior Department, War Department and Forest Service. There was no single bureau for the varied parklands.

President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating NPS on August 25,1916. The new Interior Department bureau took responsibility for the thirty-five parks and monuments then managed by that department. The date a place was protected can therefore differ from the date it entered NPS administration.

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The 1916 act joined the conservation of scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife with public enjoyment, requiring that resources remain unimpaired for future generations. This combined mandate made the arrangement of access, facilities and uses part of the work of preservation.

The act established staff and administrative authority and addressed rules, leases and permits for visitor services. Protection thus became continuing institutional work rather than designation alone. Particular units retained their own legal histories, and NPS administration did not extend to every category of public land.

References: [1]

Early directors Stephen Mather and Horace Albright investigated historic sites as well as natural scenery. Their concerns included boundaries, guides, roads and how visitors understood a place. A 1933 reorganization transferred fifty-six monuments and military sites from other departments, expanding the service's historical responsibilities.

The General Authorities Act of 1970 recognized natural, historic and recreation areas as parts of one national park system. Individual places retained different resources and requirements while sharing an administrative framework. The agency's development consequently joined traditions of scenic protection with historical preservation and public interpretation.

References: [2] [3]