To bring all national parks under unified federal management, Representative William Kent of California and Senator Reed Smoot of Utah introduced corresponding bills in Congress. The legislation, enacted in August 1916, created a National Park Service under the Department of the Interior to regulate the use of national parks and preserve them for later generations.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
H.R. 15522, An Act to establish a National Park Service, engrossed August 5, 1916
The National Park Service
As settlement of the West depleted natural resources, conservationists urged Congress to preserve some of the nation’s most scenic and fragile environments. Congress authorized the first national park, Yellowstone, in 1872. In 1916 Representative William Kent of California and Senator Reed Smoot of Utah sponsored legislation establishing a National Park Service to oversee Yellowstone and other wilderness areas conserved by Congress. The National Park Service now maintains over 400 parks and historical sites nationwide for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
The parks do not belong to one state or to one section. . . . they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of Arizona.
Stephen T. Matha, Annual Report of the Director of the National Park Service, October 14, 1920
To bring all national parks under unified federal management, Representative William Kent of California and Senator Reed Smoot of Utah introduced corresponding bills in Congress. The legislation, enacted in August 1916, created a National Park Service under the Department of the Interior to regulate the use of national parks and preserve them for later generations.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
