The parks are the Nation's pleasure grounds and the Nation's restoring places…

J. Horace McFarland, President of the American Civic Association,
National Park Service. Hearing Before the Committee on Public Lands…, April 5-6, 1916.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920

Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, California,
Underwood & Underwood, copyright claimant, copyright 1906.
Portraits of the Presidents
and First Ladies, 1789-Present

Conservationists, civic leaders, and government officials submitted testimony before Congress in favor of the establishment of the National Park Service on April 5 and April 6, 1916.

The congressional debate over the proper management of the growing system of national parks began in 1912 and culminated with the passage, in 1916, of the National Park Service Act. This legislation created the National Park Service within the Department of the Interior. Stephen T. Mather was named its first director.

In making his case for the agency, Richard B. Watrous, Secretary of the American Civic Association, recalled the rationale made by Secretary of the Interior Richard A. Ballinger in 1910.

"In order that creditable progress may be made in each of the national parks," Ballinger had written:

liberal appropriations will be required…to create a bureau of national parks and resorts, under the supervision of a competent commissioner, with a suitable force of superintendents, supervising engineers, and landscape architects, inspectors, park guards, and other employees.

Richard B. Watrous, Secretary of the American Civic Association,
National Park Service. Hearing Before the Committee
on Public Lands…, April 5-6, 1916.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920

Others pointed to the long-term economic benefits likely to accrue from the efficient investment in and management of the national parks.

Since its establishment in 1916, the National Park Service has gone from supervising 40 national parks and monuments to some 370 areas. The National Park System encompasses over 83 million acres in 49 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands, and attracts millions of visitors each year.

Map of Yellowstone Park Showing Proposed Railroad Line and Hotels, circa 1900.
Yellowstone Maps, 1871-1988
in Map Collections (1500-Present)

• Search on National Park Service in Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 to find more material documenting the early history of the park system.
• Yellowstone Maps, 1871-1988 includes 25 maps and a historical overview of Yellowstone, the first national park. Browse the collection Subject Index to find maps showing the location of hot springs and geysers, the road system, a proposed railroad line and hotels, the geology of the area, and the burn area of the 1988 fire.
• Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920 and Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 contain a large selection of photographs featuring national parks; to view these images, search the collections on national park, national forest, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier Park, or the park of your choice.
• Search on national parks in the Bill Summary & Status page to find bills introduced in the 106th Congress affecting the National Park Service. Using THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet it is possible to follow the progress of a bill as it passes through the stages of the legislative process.
• Also, be sure to see the Today in History features on Yosemite, Mount Rainier, and Acadia parks, as well as the feature on naturalist John Muir, who deserves much of the credit for gaining national park status for Yosemite, and for alerting Americans to the need to protect this and other natural wonders.
• Visit the National Park Service's Park Net for information about visiting any of the national parks. Educators will find online resources in Tools for Teaching, part of the Links to the Past cultural resources, and in LearnNPS.

Lake McDonald, Glacier Park, Montana, copyright 1915.
Taking the Long View, 1851-1991