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Jan 1, 2016 | by Kevin Loughlin
2016 marks the 100th Anniversary of our US National Park Service!
Grand Tetons Grizzlies © Kevin Loughlin
The official date is not until August 25, the day Congress passed the “National Park Service Organic Act” in 1916, but we, along with all the National Parks and Monuments plan to celebrate all year long! If you watched the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day, the theme “Find Your Adventure” was in honor of this admirable achievement.
Prior to 1916, most National Parks were managed by the government of their respective state, with a few exceptions. Yellowstone, our first National Park, was founded in 1872, however, Wyoming did not yet have a state government, so the park was federally overseen. Yosemite was founded first as a State Park, in 1864, on donated federal land and later became a National Park, in 1890, through the efforts of conservationists like John Muir. The park was then overseen by the US Army until 1916.
The need for a single entity to oversee the growing number of National Parks was understood by some prominent people. Businessman, Stephen Mather and conservationist, J. Horace McFarland joined forces with John Muir and journalist Robert Sterling Yard to promote awareness of the need for a governing body to manage and protect the parks and historical sites.
President Woodrow Wilson, on August 25, 1916, signed the bill that mandated the agency “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife 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.” Stephen Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS.
Every National Park will have special events to honor their employees, past, present and future, throughout the year, and of course, we will offer some fantastic opportunities to share a couple of our favorite parks with you!
We hope you will join us in celebrating the men and women of our National Park Service!
–Kevin Loughlin
Join us on one of these great trips to a couple of our favorite parks:
YELLOWSTONE Ultimate Winter Wildlife