National Park Service Turns 100 This Month

America’s National Park Service (NPS) is a federal agency that manages all the parks, monuments and many historical properties that belong to the United States. The NPS turns 100 this month.

Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park. The U.S. Congress passed a law that President Ulysses S. Grant signed on March 1, 1872, protecting the 3,268.4 square miles that make up Yellowstone--the country’s largest park.

Existing primarily in Wyoming and extending into smaller parts of Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone was described in the law as “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

The public’s demand for more national parks resulted in the number growing to 35 by the beginning of the twentieth century. Several local and federal agencies claimed authority over the same parks, causing conflicts in financing and managerial responsibilities.

President Woodrow Wilson centralized the responsibilities and management of the national parks. The U.S. Congress approved the president’s National Park Service Act on the 25^th of August one hundred years ago.  The law made the NPS an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. President Wilson wrote that he wanted the NPS “to conserve the scenery and the national and historical objects and wildlife therein.”

The NPS currently oversees 59 national parks and more than 350 monuments and historic properties. It takes 21,635 employees to care for America’s national parks that welcomed more than 307 million visitors last year. The federal budget to run the NPS in 2016 is at an all-time high of $3 billion. If you want to visit one of the parks or properties in the NPS, you can find the location nearest you by using the NPS website.

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