National Park Service

The U.S. federal agency responsible for preserving natural and cultural resources and managing national parks, monuments, historic sites, and other protected places.

Yellowstone National Park: A protected area in the United States, established in 1872 as the world’s first national park. It exemplifies the park model the agency administers and the conservation challenges it faces.
National Park Service Organic Act: The 1916 U.S. law that created the National Park Service and defined its preservation and public-use responsibilities. It established the agency’s central mandate and the tension between preservation and enjoyment.
Yellowstone National Park Act: The 1872 U.S. law establishing Yellowstone as a public park reserved from settlement, occupancy, or sale. The park’s creation became a landmark precedent before the agency existed.
United States Forest Service: A U.S. Department of Agriculture agency that manages national forests and grasslands for multiple uses. Unlike the park agency, it manages lands under a multiple-use mandate that includes timber production.
National Park Service racial segregation: The historical exclusion and unequal treatment of people of color in U.S. national parks and agency facilities. Past policies shaped access to parks and remain central to debates about the agency’s history.
National Register of Historic Places: The official U.S. federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history and culture. The agency maintains this register and uses it to recognize historic properties.
Antiquities Act: A 1906 U.S. law authorizing presidents to designate national monuments on federal lands to protect historic and scientific objects. Presidential monument designations have repeatedly expanded the places the agency manages.
Yosemite Grant: The 1864 U.S. law transferring Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to California for preservation and public use. It was an early federal effort to protect scenic land for public benefit.
Bureau of Land Management: A U.S. Department of the Interior agency that manages public lands for multiple uses and sustained yield. Its broad multiple-use mission differs from the National Park Service’s emphasis on conserving designated resources.
Manzanar National Historic Site: A California site preserving one of the incarceration camps where the U.S. government confined Japanese Americans during World War II. Its interpretation shows how agency sites can preserve difficult chapters of national history.

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