National Parks

Yellowstone

Mar 1, 1872

Yellowstone becomes the first national park. This began the idea of preserving lands for future generations. The debate begins on how to balance preservation and tourism.

Protection of Wildlife

1880

How do you protect the wildlife in the parks and encourage tourism? This became a dilemma for the National Park System. In the 1880's to promote the growth of wildlife in the parks, they began stocking fish in rivers and lakes and protecting the population of mammals. These seem like good ideas at first, but eventually will cause more biological issues.

Army Manages the Parks

1886

The US Army became the first stewards of the national parks. The army oversaw Yellowstone, Sequoia, Yosemite, and General Grant Park. The Army Engineer Corps will build roads and buildings. They will build hundreds of miles of roads for tourists to enjoy the beauty of the park.

Sequoia & Yosemite

1890

Sequoia & Yosemite are added as national parks. Yosemite will be under California state control until 1906. The push-pull between preserving the parks and opening the parks to tourism continues.

Railroads push for more parks

1899

To bring more riders to their trains the major railroad companies push for more parks to be created. First will be Mt. Rainer, but this influence will help Sequoia, Yosemite, and Glacier become national parks.

National Monuments added as National Parks

1906

Between the years of 1906-1908, several national monuments are added to the National Parks under Theodore Roosevelt. This creates a division of national parks to protect national monuments. The parks included under this designation are Devils Tower, Chaco Canyon, Muir Woods, Mt. Olympus, and the Grand Canyon.

Antiquities Act

Jun 8, 1906

This act protected items that were historical or cultural to an area. It made it illegal to remove them from federal land.

Mesa Verde

Jun 29, 1906

Mesa Verde became the first archeological park. This was a new idea to preserve not just natural sites, but important archaeological sites too. This opens new areas to the national park idea.

Park Rangers are formed

1914

The early park rangers program stated in 1914. Their official duties will change over time, but they had to be able to handle tourists, patrol and protect the park, build park buildings, and take care of the trails.

Organic Act (National Park Service Act)

Aug 25, 1916

This act created the National Parks Service System to preserve the nature of the National Parks.

Stephen Mather-First Director of NPS

1917

Stephen Mather became the first director of the National Park Service. He led the NPS from 1917-1929. establishing policies to help preserve the parks and encourage tourists to visit the parks.

Fauna No. 1

1933

Fauna No. 1 was the first wildlife study done in the parks. This study helped shape the biological ideas of preserving the park to its most natural state. Fauna No. 1 will help shape the ideals of the National Park system for years to come.

Mission 66

1956

Mission 66 was a 10-year program to update the national parks roads, trails, and facilities. This included paving roads, building visitor centers, and other improvements to the parks. The ending date would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service.

Leopold Report

1963

The Leopold Report will become the official policy for the park service. The report pushed for the parks to be natural settings and the service should focus on the inclusion of natural plants and animals.

1964 Wilderness Act

Sep 3, 1964

This act gave more protection to wildlife areas and established national preserves. This allowed for the land to be protected from over development and the natural areas to be protected for future generations.

National Environmental Policy Act

1969

National Environmental Policy Act had the goal to ‘‘use of the natural and social sciences’’ when making decisions on policies. The NPS does not embrace this act and does the bare minimum to comply with the requirements.

General Authorities Act

1970

This act brought the three types of parks together in under one system. Now natural, recreational, and historical parks would be combined under one overarching National Park system.

New Training for Park Employees

1982

In the 1980's there was a new focus on training for park resource managers. This training focused on ecological ideas and management in the parks. Due to budget constraints, the program began to decline and scaled back.

Vail Agenda

1991

This was a conference focusing on the National Parks and how they were managing the lands and resources. The conference included both internal and external experts to review how the park was managing the parks and how they should move forward. It was determined that more focus needed to be placed on ecological preservation. This also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the National Park Service.

Wolves Reintroduced to Yellowstone

1995

After years of predator control wiped out the wolves in Yellowstone in 1995 wolves are reintroduced into Yellowstone. This is a very controversial idea that is still debated today but aligns with the goals of the National Park Service of returning the lands to their natural state.