# National Park Service *Agency of the United States Department of the Interior that manages the national park system and related federal properties* The National Park Service (NPS) is a bureau of the [[United States Department of the Interior]]. It is responsible for every national park, most national monuments, and a range of other natural, historical and recreational sites held under various designations.[^1] Congress established the agency through the National Park Service Organic Act on August 25, 1916. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., inside the Interior Department's main building.[^1] The Organic Act directed the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein". It was also to provide for public enjoyment of those places in a way that leaves them "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations".[^2] In [[Minnesota]]'s record, the agency appears through a bridge project in Washington County. A House committee report records that the NPS approved the project in 2005 and then reversed after court challenges. The report also records that in one of two Sierra Club suits a court ruled the NPS decision "arbitrary and capricious", and the agency did not appeal.[^3] On March 14, 2012, Congress enacted [[Public Law 112-100]], which authorized construction "notwithstanding section 7(a)" of the [[Wild and Scenic Rivers Act]].[^4] The agency also publishes Minnesota history. Its account of the [[St. Croix Boom]] describes a logging-boom company chartered in 1851 by Wisconsin and [[Minnesota Territory]].[^5] ## Who The director of the NPS is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the [[United States Senate]]. Six senior executives at the Washington headquarters run national programs, policy and budget. Seven regional directors report to the deputy director of operations, and together this group forms the National Leadership Council.[^6] The campaign for a separate parks agency was led by the businessman and conservationist Stephen Mather. He worked with the journalist Robert Sterling Yard on a publicity effort for the Interior Department. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act, and Mather became the agency's first director.[^2] The agency employs about 20,000 people, and in 2019 it reported more than 279,000 volunteers.[^1] Wikipedia records that over 1,000 NPS employees were fired in February 2025. It describes the firings as an effort to decrease federal spending.[^7] In the Washington County matter, the House report records that the Sierra Club sued twice. The first suit, in 1996, concerned inadequate environmental review. The second came after the agency's 2005 approval.[^3] ## What The NPS manages national parks, most national monuments, and other properties under the Organic Act and later legislation.[^1] It also gives technical and financial assistance to affiliated areas that Congress has authorized.[^8] The agency holds concession contracts with private businesses that provide lodging, recreation and resorts inside park units.[^9] In 2015 the concessioner Delaware North filed a breach-of-contract suit against the NPS in the [[United States Court of Federal Claims]]. It claimed the agency had undervalued its trademarks on the names of Yosemite concession facilities, among them "Ahwahnee" and "Curry Village".[^9] In the Washington County matter, the documented outputs are an approval, a reversal, a court ruling, and a statute. According to the House report, the NPS approved the bridge project in 2005 and later reversed it.[^3] Congress then legislated an exemption from section 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.[^4] A Senate committee report, listed with the House report in the project's legislative-record note, is part of the same congressional record.[^10] ## When - **1832.** On a trip to the Dakotas, the artist George Catlin may have been the first to propose a national park.[^2] - **1872.** Yellowstone, the first U.S. national park, was managed directly by the federal government through the army, because Wyoming was then a territory.[^2] - **August 25, 1916.** The Organic Act created the NPS.[^2] - **March 3, 1933.** President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, which let the president transfer national monuments between departments.[^2] - **1996.** The Sierra Club filed its first suit over the Washington County project.[^3] - **2005.** The NPS approved the Washington County project; it later reversed that approval.[^3] - **March 14, 2012.** Public Law 112-100 was signed.[^4] - **August 4, 2020.** The Great American Outdoors Act became law.[^11] - **February 2025.** Over 1,000 NPS employees were fired.[^7] The project's at-issue record states that the Washington County bridge opened on August 2, 2017. That date rests on a news source that is not among this article's citable sources. ## Where The national headquarters is in the Main Interior Building at 1849 C Street NW, a few blocks southwest of the White House. Regional offices are in Anchorage, Atlanta, Lakewood (Colorado), Omaha, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.[^6] The 434 park units are spread across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.[^1] Together they cover roughly 85.1 million acres, 2.6 million of which are still privately owned. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest unit, at 13,200,000 acres. Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Pennsylvania is the smallest, at 0.02 acres.[^8] In Minnesota, the agency's published history of the St. Croix Boom states the following: - Isaac Staples, Martin Mower and other investors reorganized the company in 1856 and moved it above [[Stillwater]]. - It operated from 1856 to 1914 as "the epicenter of the St. Croix Valley's logging industry". - In 1889 the "Weyerhaeuser Syndicate" leased controlling interest from Staples and Mower.[^5] ## Why The agency's statutory purpose under the Organic Act is to conserve scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife, while providing for their enjoyment without impairment.[^2] For the Washington County project, the House report gives the agency's stated reason for its reversal. The NPS concluded that, "despite the planned mitigation", the project was not consistent with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.[^3] ## How Laws cover the park system as a whole, but each unit is also governed by its own authorizing legislation. National monuments created under the Antiquities Act are governed by executive order.[^8] Public Law 112-100 addressed the Washington County project directly. Rather than amending the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, it authorized construction "notwithstanding section 7(a)".[^4] ## How much - **Budget.** The NPS's 2019 budget was $4.085 billion, and its maintenance backlog was estimated at $12 billion.[^11] - **Backlog relief.** The Great American Outdoors Act provided for cutting the backlog by $9.5 billion across five years, starting in fiscal 2021.[^11] - **Relative size.** As of 2022, the agency had the largest budget allocation of any Interior Department bureau or program.[^11] - **Delaware North suit.** The NPS valued the disputed Yosemite names at $3.5 million. Delaware North, which had lost the contract, put their value at $51 million and maintained that the incoming concessioner owed that amount. The Justice Department and the NPS called the claim "improper and wildly inflated".[^9] - **Bridge cost.** The project's at-issue record states that the Washington County bridge cost $646 million, citing a news source that is not among this article's citable sources. ## How many - **Visits.** Recreation visits exceeded 325 million in 2023, and the NPS reported a record 331.9 million in 2024. Visitation grew 64 percent between 1979 and 2015.[^12] - **Distribution of visits.** The ten busiest units receive about 30 percent of visits. The top 10 percent of parks (43 units) receive over 64 percent.[^12] - **Logging on the St. Croix.** According to the agency's St. Croix Boom history, in the 1880s and 1890s up to 200 companies together "crammed more than 300 million board feet of logs into the river annually".[^5] ## In the at-issue record **At issue 050 (Washington County).** This entry pairs the agency's documented sequence with the congressional response. The NPS approved the bridge project in 2005 and reversed after court challenges. A court ruled the NPS decision "arbitrary and capricious", and the agency declined to appeal.[^3] Congress then enacted Public Law 112-100, signed March 14, 2012, authorizing construction "notwithstanding section 7(a)" of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.[^4] The entry's own text adds that the bridge opened August 2, 2017, at $646 million. Those figures rest on a news source outside this article's citable sources. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849, retrieved 2026-10-27), lead section — agency status, holdings, 1916 creation, headquarters, staff, units, volunteers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^2]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), History section — Catlin, Yellowstone, Mather and Yard, the Organic Act text and signing, the Reorganization Act of 1933. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^3]: U.S. House of Representatives, *H. Rept. 112-309* (112th Congress) — records the NPS 2005 approval and reversal, the Sierra Club suits (1996 and after 2005), the "arbitrary and capricious" ruling, and that the agency did not appeal; carries dissenting views. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-112hrpt309/html/CRPT-112hrpt309.htm [^4]: U.S. Congress, *Public Law 112-100* (March 14, 2012) — authorizes the Washington County bridge's construction "notwithstanding section 7(a)" of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-112publ100/pdf/PLAW-112publ100.pdf [^5]: National Park Service, *The St. Croix Boom* — 1851 charter, 1856 reorganization above Stillwater, 1856–1914 operation, 1880s–90s log volumes, 1889 Weyerhaeuser lease. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/stcroixboom.htm [^6]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), Offices section — headquarters address, regional offices, director's nomination and confirmation, National Leadership Council. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^7]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), Staff and volunteers section — February 2025 firing of over 1,000 employees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^8]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), National Park System section — acreage, largest and smallest units, affiliated areas, unit-specific legislation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^9]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), Concessions section — concession contracts; the 2015 Delaware North suit in the Court of Federal Claims and the competing valuations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^10]: U.S. Senate, *S. Rept. 112-124* (112th Congress) — Senate committee report listed with H. Rept. 112-309 in the project's legislative-record note on the bridge. https://www.congress.gov/committee-report/112th-congress/senate-report/124 [^11]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), Budget section — 2019 budget and backlog, the Great American Outdoors Act of August 4, 2020, the 2022 budget ranking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service [^12]: Wikipedia, *National Park Service* (revision 1381275849), Visitation section — 2023 and 2024 recreation visits, 1979–2015 growth, concentration of visits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service