Yellowstone National Park Act, 1872 - The Act signed into law on March 1, 1872, by President Ulysses S. Grant established the world's first true national park. It withdrew more than two million acres of the public domain in the Montana and Wyoming territories from settlement, occupancy, or sale to be "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." It placed the park under the control of the Secretary of the Interior and gave the Secretary responsibility for preserving all timber, mineral deposits, geologic wonders, and other resources within the park. The establishment of the park set a precedent for placing other natural reserves under federal jurisdiction.
Antiquities Act of 1906 - The Antiquities Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906, grew out of a movement to protect the prehistoric cliff dwellings, pueblo ruins and early missions in the Southwest. It authorized Presidents to proclaim and reserve "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on lands owned or controlled by the United States as "national monuments." It also prohibited the excavation or appropriation of antiquities on federal lands without permission from the department having jurisdiction. Nearly a quarter of the units currently in the National Park System originated in whole or part from the Antiquities Act.
Act to Establish the National Park Service, 1916 - By August 1916 the Department of Interior oversaw 14 national parks, 21 national monuments, and the Hot Springs and Casa Grande Ruin reservations, but there was no unified leadership or organization to operate them. Lacking this, the parks and monuments were vulnerable to competing interests. With encouragement from the National Geographic Society, journalists, railroad interests and others, Congress passed what is often known as the Organic Act, which established the National Park Service and placed all the existing parks under its management. The legislation, signed by President Woodrow Wilson, established the basis for the fundamental mission, philosophy, and policies of the National Park Service.
Reorganization of 1933 - A major reorganization within President Franklin Roosevelt's executive branch in 1933 had a tremendous impact on the National Park Service. Specifically, two executive orders, effective August 10, 1933, transferred the War Department's parks and monuments to the National Park Service. In addition the National Park Service received all the national monuments held by the Forest Service and the responsibility for virtually all monuments created thereafter. It also assumed responsibility for the parks in the nation's capital, which had previously been managed by a separate office in Washington.
With the 1933 reorganization and new responsibilities for historical areas, historic preservation became a primary mission of the National Park Service.
Preservation of Historic Sites Act, 1935 -The Historic Sites Act grew out of the National Park Service's desire for a stronger legal underpinning for its expanding historical programs and from recognition outside the Service of the need for greater federal assistance to historic properties. The Act declared "a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States." It assigned broad powers and duties to the Secretary of the Interior and the Service, to include conducting surveys of historic properties to determine which possess exceptional value as commemorating or illustrating U.S. history. They were authorized to conduct research; to restore, preserve, and maintain historic properties directly or through cooperative agreements with other parties; and to mark properties, establish and maintain related museums, and engage in other interpretive activities for public education. The legislation's provision for a historic site survey proved valuable in identifying potential additions to the National Park System.
Wilderness Act of 1964 - In the Wilderness Act of 1964, Congress adopted a policy of securing wilderness areas for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. It established a National Wilderness Preservation System, to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness areas," that would be administered in a way that would leave them unimpaired for the use and enjoyment of the American people as wilderness areas. The legislation prompted the Service to carefully examine all park land that potentially qualified as wilderness areas and provided additional legal protection for park areas threatened with development.
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 - The 1966 Act required that all historical parks be entered in the National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service and other federal agency measures that would affect historic sites became subject to review by state historic preservation officers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a new federal agency established by the Act.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 1968 - The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provided for the protection and preservation in free-flowing condition of selected rivers that possessed outstanding scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, or cultural values. It identified eight rivers and adjacent lands in nine states as initial components of the wild and scenic rivers system, to be administered variously by the secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior. It also named 27 other rivers or river segments to be studied as potential additions to the wild and scenic rivers system. The legislation added to the National Park System long, winding units with complex management challenges.
National Trails System Act, 1968 - The National Trails System Act provided for the establishment of both national recreation trails accessible to urban areas, to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture according to specified criteria; and national scenic trails to be established by Congress. It designated two national scenic trails as initial components of the trails system: the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. It also ordered 14 others routes to be studied for possible national scenic trail designation. Along with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, this legislation expanded the diversity of units in the National Park System.
General Authorities Act, 1970 - The General Authorities Act of August 18, 1970, redefined the National Park System to include all areas managed "for park, monument, historic, parkway, recreational, or other purposes" by the National Park Service. This marked a change from earlier legislation in which Congress legally defined the National Park System to exclude most areas in the recreational category. The legislation declared the various types of parks to be part of a single system.
Endangered Species Act of 1973 - The Endangered Species Act required federal agencies to ensure that their activities (authorized, funded, or executed) do not jeopardize the existence of any endangered or threatened species of plant or animal (including fish) or result in the destruction or deterioration of critical habitat of such species. It also provided for studies to determine endangered or threatened species and stipulates that it is unlawful for a person to possess, export, or import such species. This and other environmental legislation of the 1960s and 1970s served to bolster the role of science in park management.
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, 1980 - The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act added more than 47 million acres to the National Park System. Two years earlier, President Jimmy Carter had proclaimed national monuments totaling roughly 45 million acres in Alaska, greatly expanding the National Park Service's land management responsibilities. The 1980 legislation sanctioned President Carter's action and converted most of the national monuments in Alaska into national parks and preserves. This legislation more than doubled the size of the national park system and dramatically increased the total designated wilderness acreage.
National Park Omnibus Management Act of 1998 - The broad Omnibus Act provided for improved management and increased accountability for certain National Park Service programs. It directed reform of the process by which areas are considered for addition to the National Park System. Specifically, the legislation provided that no study of the potential of an area for inclusion in the National Park System be made without the specific authorization of Congress. The Omnibus Act also instituted the first legislative reforms of the Service's concessions management practices in a generation. The Service responded with new regulations and guidelines for concessions contracts, commercial use authorization, and the use of franchise fees. It allowed the Service to retain concessions franchise fees in the parks in which they were collected.