How America's national parks came to be

The United States preserves millions of acres of natural landscapes and historical sites through its national park system. The federal network protects wildlife and cultural resources while providing recreational areas for the public, according to the National Park Service.

Early ideas and the first parks

In the 19th century, Americans generally viewed nature as something to conquer, but painter George Catlin suggested preserving wilderness in 1831. The federal government first moved to protect natural landscapes in 1864 by granting Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to California, according to the National Park Service. The land was set aside for public use and recreation.

On March 1, 1872, Congress created Yellowstone National Park in the Montana and Wyoming territories. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law, establishing the world’s first national park. Because Montana and Wyoming were not yet states, the Department of the Interior assumed care of the land.

Four more national parks were created in the 1890s, including Sequoia and Mount Rainier. Without funding or staff, the interior department arranged for Army engineers and cavalry units to develop and protect most of the new parks. At Yellowstone, the Army took charge in 1886, where troops guarded major attractions and cavalry patrolled the interior.

Expanding protections and monuments

Congress passed the Antiquities Act in 1906 to address the destruction of Native American artifacts in the Southwest. The act authorized the president to designate historic and scientific features on public lands as national monuments. President Theodore Roosevelt used this law to proclaim Devil’s Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument.

By 1916, the interior department managed 14 national parks and 21 national monuments but lacked a dedicated organization to oversee them. On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation creating the National Park Service. The new bureau was tasked with conserving scenery, wildlife and historic objects for future generations.

Stephen T. Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, established a specialized uniformed staff known as the Park Rangers. These employees originally guarded western wilderness parks and wore a trooper-style hat borrowed from the cavalry units that previously guarded the areas. Ranger duties later expanded to include historical interpretation and wilderness management.

A unified system and modern growth

A government reorganization in 1933 united various federal parklands under a single system. An executive order moved 56 military sites and national monuments to the National Park Service from the War Department and the Forest Service. The system expanded further in the 1930s to include recreational areas like the Blue Ridge Parkway and Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Following World War II, park infrastructure deteriorated as visitor numbers surged, reaching one million visitors at Yellowstone in 1948. In 1955, National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth persuaded Congress to fund an improvement program intended for completion by 1966. The program, known as Mission 66, focused mainly on visitor facilities and roads.

Congress directed the last major expansion of the system in 1980 by adding about 47 million acres in Alaska. New national parks can only be created through acts of Congress, though the president retains authority to proclaim national monuments. The National Park Service says the system comprises more than 400 areas covering over 84 million acres.