U.S. Dept. of the Interior, "NPGallery Search," NPS.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby created in the Department of the Interior a service to be called the National Park Service, which shall be under the charge of a director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary..."
The Organic Act of 1916, H.R. 15522, 64th Cong., 1st Sess. (Aug. 25, 1916).
Harris and Ewing, Stephen Mather.
As the 1910’s began, backlash on the management of the National Parks came soaring in from throughout the country, as many believed the government had a responsibility to protect these lands. Stephen Tyng Mather, a Chicago businessman and a passionate conservationist, was particularly upset with the state of the parks. In 1914, he wrote a letter to Secretary of the Interior Franklin Lane, a friend of his who oversaw the parks. Lane responded with a challenge: "If you don't like the way things are run, come to Washington and run them yourself." Taking his words to heart, Mather accepted Lane’s proposition and moved to Washington D.C. the following year. There, he advocated for the National Parks alongside his assistant, Horace Marden Albright.
An Act to Establish a National Park Service.
By 1916, preservationism and the need for a unifying park system was at its peak. Mather and other citizens not only saw conserving natural landscapes as a duty of the government, but also as a way to ensure that future generations can express their right to enjoy it. Determined to make his beliefs a reality, Mather used his strong public relations skills to make allies with groups like the Sierra Club and Congress. After spending the past year-and-a-half rallying the country under naturalism, Mather and the countless other conservationists saw their mission succeed. On August 15th, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act of 1916, establishing the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior. Recognizing Mather’s dedication and work towards the movement, Lane appointed him as the first head of the National Park Service with Albright as his assistant director. The newly institutionalized National Park Service was tasked with managing the growing number of national parks, creating standardized policies for conservation, and ensuring public access while preventing the exploitation of protected lands.
"The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purposes of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life 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."
The Organic Act of 1916, H.R. 15522, 64th Cong., 1st Sess. (Aug. 25, 1916).