National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.Wallace Stegner
....to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
The journey from an idea to a resource management agency charged with overseeing more than 400 sites has been a complex and challenging one often carried out with limited resources directed at seemingly unlimited responsibilities.
For more information, NPS Historians, Barry Mackintosh and Janet McDonnell, have written an excellent brief history documenting the agency to 2005. Their work, The National Parks: Shaping the System, is available online here.
The former directors of the National Park Service have left us some candid and in some cases historic commentary on managing the preservation-use dichotomy referred to above. I highly recommend their books, along with a biography of Stephen Tyng Mather, if readers are so inclined:
Albright, Horace M. (as told to Robert Cahn). The Birth of the National Park Service. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.
Albright, Horace M, and Marian Albright Schenck. Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
Hartzog, George B. Jr. Battling for the National Parks. Moyer Bell Limited; Mt. Kisco, New York; 1988
The former directors of the National Park Service have left us some candid and in some cases historic commentary on managing the preservation-use dichotomy referred to above. I highly recommend their books, along with a biography of Stephen Tyng Mather, if readers are so inclined:
Albright, Horace M. (as told to Robert Cahn). The Birth of the National Park Service. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.
Albright, Horace M, and Marian Albright Schenck. Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
Hartzog, George B. Jr. Battling for the National Parks. Moyer Bell Limited; Mt. Kisco, New York; 1988
Ridenour, James M. The National Parks Compromised: Pork Barrel Politics and America's Treasures. Merrillville, IN: ICS Books, 1994.
Wirth, Conrad L. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.
Shankland, Robert. Steve Mather of the National Parks. Alfred A. Knopf, New York; 1970
Text:
nps.gov
National Park Service entry, Wikipedia.com
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