scholarly journals A History of the National Park Service: Through the Lens of Legislation

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Boerner

Many are aware of the media blackout that happened earlier this year as President Donald Trump took office. While several governmental agencies where affected, the order given to the Department of Interior, which the National Park Service is under, sparked an unprecedented social media backlash. Social media accounts named Alt National Park Service started popping up on Twitter and Facebook. While there is some question as to whether these social media accounts were actually run by employees of the National Park Service, there is no question that the National Park Service suddenly became major conversation. Whether people saw this as an unwanted act of rebellion, or as the start of a resistance movement to stand behind, the National Park Service was being talked about by many people.

Author(s):  
James Pritchard

This project investigated the history of the backcountry trail system in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). In cooperation with GTNP Cultural Resources and the Western Center for Historic Preservation in GTNP, we located records describing the early development of the trail system. Only a few historical records describe or map the exact location of early trails, which prove useful when relocating trails today. The paper trail becomes quite rich, however, in revealing the story behind the practical development of Grand Teton National Park as it joined the National Park Service system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura C. Walkup ◽  
Thomas J. Casadevall ◽  
Vincent L. Santucci

ABSTRACT Geologic features, particularly volcanic features, have been protected by the National Park Service since its inception. Some volcanic areas were nationally protected even before the National Park Service was established. The first national park, Yellowstone National Park, is one of the most widely known geothermal and volcanic areas in the world. It contains the largest volcanic complex in North America and has experienced three eruptions which rate among the largest eruptions known to have occurred on Earth. Half of the twelve areas established as national parks before the 1916 Organic Act which created the National Park Service are centered on volcanic features. The National Park Service now manages lands that contain nearly every conceivable volcanic resource, with at least seventy-six managed lands that contain volcanoes or volcanic rocks. Given that so many lands managed by the National Park Service contain volcanoes and volcanic rocks, we cannot give an overview of the history of each one; rather we highlight four notable examples of parks that were established on account of their volcanic landscapes. These parks all helped to encourage the creation and success of the National Park Service by inspiring the imagination of the public. In addition to preserving and providing access to the nation's volcanic heritage, volcanic national parks are magnificent places to study and understand volcanoes and volcanic landscapes in general. Scientists from around the world study volcanic hazards, volcanic history, and the inner working of the Earth within U.S. national parks. Volcanic landscapes and associated biomes that have been relatively unchanged by human and economic activities provide unique natural laboratories for understanding how volcanoes work, how we might predict eruptions and hazards, and how these volcanoes affect surrounding watersheds, flora, fauna, atmosphere, and populated areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Tom Patterson

This paper examines the evolution of relief presentations on maps developed by Harpers Ferry Center, the media service center of the US National Park Service (NPS). Harpers Ferry Center produces the maps used by park visitors. I will discuss five park maps, each with a distinctive relief style and mode of production. They appear in rough chronological order of their development. Recent relief presentations are generally more detailed, colorful, and realistic than those from earlier years. Changing technology is largely responsible for the different relief styles found on park maps. Some relief treatments today were not possible, or imaginable, in 1977 when the NPS established the brochure program in its modern phase. Landscape heterogeneity is another factor behind the development of different relief styles. With over 400 park sites ranging from the glacial mountains of Alaska to the rolling piedmont of Virginia, a one-style-fits-all approach cannot adequately depict all landscapes. NPS maps serve some 300 million park visitors each year. Our ongoing effort to make understandable maps for this diverse audience has further spurred experiments in relief presentation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-263
Author(s):  
Joan M. Zenzen

This article chronicles the history of administrative histories within the National Park Service. Administrative histories describe the history of a site or a group of parks. They can be important resources for management decisions. Managers, however, often do not know about or pay attention to these documents. Some managers have even threatened the intellectual integrity of these histories. Despite these issues, administrative histories matter: they fill an acute need by park superintendents and others to inform decision making and help with reporting and preservation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-112
Author(s):  
Peter S. Alagona

This essay looks at the history of Santa Cruz Island and preservation and conservation efforts there through the work of the National Park Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the University of California Natural Reserve System. Alagona argues that these efforts are sometimes counterproductive because they rely on incomplete or outmoded understanding of the island’s human and ecological history. A better understanding of how history, culture, and nature shaped each other would lead to more complete conversation and better land management decisions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
Jerry Rogers

Dr. Muriel (Miki) Crespi made extraordinary contributions to the development of the field of cultural resource management, especially in conceiving, launching, and developing an Ethnography Program in the National Park Service. As Associate Director for Cultural Resources of the Service, I had the pleasure of sharing part of that experience with her. This paper is not a researched history of that experience, but is rather my personal recollection, containing all of the advantages and disadvantages of that perspective. The Ethnography Program has now been around long enough and made enough demonstrable differences in the field of cultural resource management that it ought to be the subject of a thorough administrative history. To the scholar who undertakes that history, I especially recommend a detailed examination of the planning, execution, and follow-up of the First World Conference on Cultural Parks, which I would describe as the seminal event behind the Ethnography Program.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-260
Author(s):  
ALICE KIM ◽  
NICOLE C. LAUTZE

ABSTRACT Kīlauea Volcano has attracted visitors to Hawai‘i throughout the history of Hawai‘i’s tourism industry. From the 1870s to the 1910s, Kīlauea offered the experience of using volcanic heat and molten lava to cook food, melt postcards onto cavern walls, enflame items, and obtain souvenirs including scorched postcards, rocks, olivine, and Pele’s hair. Writers shared their experiences in publications, and traveling presentations showed American audiences images of visitors scorching postcards at Kīlauea. Marketing campaigns on the U.S. Mainland promoted Hawai‘i as a tourist destination and promoted cooking with Kīlauea’s heat. In 1907, U.S. Congressmen toured Kīlauea Caldera, ate dinner cooked with Kīlauea’s heat, and learned about Kīlauea’s geodiversity. These experiences likely influenced Congress to establish the Kīlauea, Haleakalā, and Mauna Loa Volcanoes as the Hawaii National Park (now known as the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park). Today, the U.S. National Park Service maintains the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, and it offers geological, biological, and cultural resources for recreation and education. For destination marketing, Kīlauea provided Hawai‘i a comparative advantage for tourism.


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