The Birth of the National Park System

As of January 2021, there are 423 national park sites in the United States. The park sites cover 84 million acres and span not only the United States, but include the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam. In the United States, there are 63 national parks, with New River Gorge in West Virginia the newest edition. These sites and parks are administered by the National Park System.

In March 2022, the National Park System will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone National Park Protection Act was signed into law on March 1, 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant. A few years earlier the Yosemite Act of 1864 placed the Yosemite Valley under the control of California, which protected it from settlement. Both Acts set a precedent of protecting public lands.

While several other parks were established prior to Yellowstone, such as Yosemite, they were not designated national parks. California designated Yosemite a state park, though in 1890 it became a national park. Hot Springs, Arkansas has often been cited as the first national park; however, its official designation was as a national reservation, the oldest in the United States. Historians believe Yellowstone would have been a state park too, but its location within the three states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana led to the federalizing of Yellowstone, making it officially the first national park in American history.

Yellowstone had several superintendents but, they had trouble in effectively managing such a large territory. Yellowstone went through five superintendents within its first decade. Control of Yellowstone shifted from the Department of the Interior to the U.S. Army in 1886. By the turn of the century, the number of national parks grew to 15. Separate administration of each park proved ineffectual and provided momentum for the establishment of an independent agency to administer Yellowstone and the other national parks. Congress passed the National Parks Service Organic Act in 1916 and it was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.

In nearly a century and a half, the National Park System has shown considerable growth throughout the United States. Parks exist in 28 states and two territories. California and Alaska have the most parks with nine and eight respectively. Currently, Kansas does not have any national parks, but it does have 28 state parks throughout the state. The legacy of Yellowstone serves an important role in the continued stewardship of public lands and natural resources in the United States.