How a chaotic collection of federal lands became the world's first national park system

Nature · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before 1916, America's national parks were managed by disparate authorities, including the U.S. Army, and plagued by resource exploitation. A campaign led by a wealthy businessman and his assistant transformed this fragmented landscape into a unified, professionalized agency dedicated to preserving natural wonders for future generations to enjoy.

The origins of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) lie in the westward expansion of the 19th century. Following expeditions like Lewis and Clark, reports of spectacular landscapes—such as Yellowstone and Yosemite—captivated the public. In 1871, an expedition led by Ferdinand V. Hayden, featuring photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran, produced visual evidence of these wonders. This led Congress to authorize Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872, though some argue Mongolia’s Bogd Khan Mountain National Park may predate it by nearly a century.

By the early 20th century, the system was in disarray. Parks were managed separately, often by the military, and suffered from logging, hunting, and grazing. Conservationist John Muir and others pushed for better protection, influencing President Theodore Roosevelt to use the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate national monuments. However, true reform arrived in 1914 when businessman Stephen Mather complained to the Interior Department about poor park conditions. He was invited to Washington, D.C., to improve the system himself.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act, establishing the NPS. Mather became its first director, working with Horace Albright to create a professional corps of superintendents and rangers. They unified the management of disparate sites and aggressively promoted the parks to the public. This era of expansion continued through the 1930s, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the 1933 Reorganization Act to transfer additional historic sites and monuments into the NPS fold.

Management evolved further in 1963 with the Leopold Report, which provided the first unified principles for ecosystem management. It addressed complex issues like elk populations and wildfire suppression, setting a baseline for ecological restoration that guided the agency for decades. Today, the NPS manages hundreds of units across the country, balancing the dual mandate of preserving ecological integrity while ensuring public access for all.

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