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Yellowstone National Park Act
This act established the world’s first national park. Under this act, two million acres of land were designated as free from “injury or spoliation”. Acres of land would not be destroyed by lumber companies and mining. This act established a precedent for the future designation of other national parks. -
Shiloh National Park
In Shiloh, Tennessee, a major battle took place during the civil war. On December 27, 1894 the town of Shiloh and the battle field was designated as a military park. It was eventually transferred over to the National Park Service. The Shiloh National Park laid the foundation for other battlefields to eventually become National Parks as well. -
Antiquities Act
This act was passed to preserve Native American ruins and artifacts in America’s southwest after private collectors had been looting the area for years. It has since been extended to allow the President to declare areas as “National Monuments” Devil’s Tower in Wyoming was the first designation, and the Act continues to be used today. -
Lafayette National Park
This national park has the distinction of being the first national park east of the Mississippi River. It was renamed Acadia National Park in 1929. It Is located in Maine, and is the only national park in the Northeast -
The Organic Act
This act established the National Park Service as a separate agency under the Secretary of the Interior. The Park Service became the first federal bureau that was dedicated to preserve the land. All existing national parks under this act would now be controlled by the Park Service -
Park Reorganization-
An executive order signed by FDR reorganized all of the national parks, monuments, and military battle sites under the umbrella of the National Park Service. This was significant because there was now a single system to manage everything instead of being divided and managed by multiple federal departments. -
Preservation of Historic Sites Act
The Act declared "a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States." Basically, it helped better organize the parks, monuments, and sites -
Mission 66
Coinciding with the Federal Highway Act, Mission 66 was a program that made it easier for people to visit national parks. As more roads and interstates were created over the next decade, visitor centers were also established to commemorate the 50th anniversary. -
Wilderness Act-
Under this act, the federal government was given the power to designate lands that would be unimpaired to man. Every national park was thoroughly checked and lands were designated that would prevent roads, campsites, etc… -
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965
This act established a fund for acquiring new lands and water adjacent to existing or new parks. -
National Historical Preservation Act
This act created the National Register of Historical Places. The List of Historic National Landmarks, and the State Historic Preservation offices. It helped create a review process of buildings, and structures that could be worthy of national park designation. -
National Trails System Act
This act created recreational trails in urban and rural settings. The Application Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail were the first trails in the system. Since then, nine others around the United States have been designated as National Trails -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
This act protected eight rivers and adjacent lands. This means all scenery, wildlife, fish, and geology cannot be harmed by man. Since the act was passed, the list has now grown to two hundred and twenty six rivers across the United States -
General Authorities Act
This act amended the Organic Act of 1916 and stated that national parks would be managed as a whole. It also made a change to include the management of recreational areas in the national parks. -
Volunteers in the Parks Act of 1969
This legislation allows for the use of volunteers in National Park visitor services or activities that has not been deemed hazardous or in a law enforcement capacity. -
Endangered Species Act of 1973
This act ensures that National Park activities do not in any way harm plants or animals or their habitat. -
National Parks and Recreation Act
The Act authorized the additional of 15 units to the National Park System, to include the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. -
Redwood National Park Expansion Act
This was an amendment to the 1970s General Authorities Act. This amendment was passed because of logging activities outside of the Redwood Park boundaries and would protect the remaining areas that originally were not encompassed into park land. -
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation
This act doubled the size of the national park system by adding more than 47 million acres in Alaska . -
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
This act stated museums had to return Native American artifacts to direct or cultural descendents for reburial