from the Grand Canyon to Mount Rushmore
to the Blue Ridge Mountains
the National Park Service it's the
government agency responsible for
maintaining America's abundance of
natural and cultural wonders
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by the mid-1800s American settlers were
moving west and discovering new
landscapes as they laid claims to lands
in Texas California New Mexico and
Arizona many Americans were enamored
with the natural beauty of the
trans-mississippi West which was so
different from the East Coast and Europe
some enterprising travelers realized
these natural sights would make good
spots for tourism and recreation in 1855
a British man named James Hutchings
along with two Indian guides visited the
yosemite valley and began to write
articles promoting california's scenic
wonders almost overnight yosemite became
a destination it was so popular that
President Abraham Lincoln put it under
protection during the Civil War but
Yosemite was not the first National Park
in 1872 president ulysses s grant
declared Yellowstone the first-ever
National Park
it wasn't until 1890 that john muir a
scottish-american naturalist
successfully convinced Congress to
protect the Yosemite area Muir would
continue to have a major influence on
the creation and preservation of new
parks along with President Theodore
Roosevelt between 1901 and 1909
President Teddy Roosevelt who believed
that experience in nature was
instrumental in building American
character created five new parks
including Yosemite and claimed over 100
million acres of National Forest he also
signed the 1906 antiquities act which
gave the President of the United States
authority to create national monuments
from federal lands
national parks were springing up all
over the country but it wasn't until
1916 that President Woodrow Wilson
signed an act to establish a National
Park Service run by the federal
government
the organic act gathered the 14 national
parks and 21 national monuments into a
federal system Congress declared the
fundamental purpose of the National Park
System to conserve the scenery and the
natural and historic objects and the
wildlife therein and to provide for the
enjoyment of the same in such manner and
by such means as we'll leave them
unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations
over the next two decades Congress
expanded the National Park System adding
the Grand Canyon Bryce Canyon Acadia the
Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah to
the list of national parks
throughout the 20th century the service
continued to expand thanks to some
important pieces of legislation the
historic sites Act of 1935 allowed the
government to give historic properties
protected status the Wilderness Act of
1965 created a policy of securing
wilderness areas for the benefit of the
American people in 1990 the Native
American graves protection and
repatriation Act required museums
including those in the national parks to
return excavated remains to their
cultural descendants by its 100th
anniversary in 2016 the National Park
Service employed more than 20,000 people
and upwards of 300,000 volunteers
presiding over more than 400 parks
monuments and other sites today the
National Park Service still works with
communities across America preserving
nature local history and providing the
public with places to explore learn and
reflect
you