Mr. Phipps

U.S. History

Progressivism and

the National Park System

California State Standards

11.8.6. Discuss the diverse environmental regions of North America, their relationship to local economies, and the origins and prospects of environmental problems in those regions.

11.11.5. Trace the impact of, need for, and controversies associated with environmental conservation, expansion of the national park system, and the development of environmental protection laws, with particular attention to the interaction between environmental protection advocates and property rights advocates

Introduction The National Park System

is intended for• All public use• For Education• For Recreation

Our National Park System provides• A sense of history• Protection of wildlife• Protection of

important/unique geographic features

• Patriotism• Conservation of valuable

natural resources

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Timeline of Acts (1864) Yosemite Act: First state park/preserve (1872) Yellowstone Act: “Protect the Wonders” (1890) Chickamauga Act: First war memorial (1906) Antiquities Act: Authorized presidential power to create

parks (1931) Predator Policy: Authorized parks as a “last stand” for victim

species (1933) Civilian Conservation Corps: New Deal policy for

employment, conservation, and maintenance of parks.established under $300,000,000

(1956-1966) Mission 66: Provided independent funding for park rejuvenation

(1965) Concession Act: Guaranteed one concession per park (1969) National Environmental Protection Act: Set ground rules

for Federal agencies (1998) National Park Omnibus Management Ac: Improved

management of national parks

In the Beginning State parks set aside to

protect and preserve beauty

Parks received little more than janitorial work

Problem: no central organization and no laws to govern them

Sec of the Interior, F. K. Lane, needed a dept to maintain the parks Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Sequoia

John Muir (1838-1914)

Background:• Born in Scotland • Immigrated to America in

1849. • Dropped out into “university

of wilderness”.Employment:

• Summer job of shepherd in Yosemite sparked naturalist interests

• Started the Sierra Club 1892. "Most people are on the world,

not in it; have no conscious sympathy or relationship to

anything about them, undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like

marbles of polished stone, touching but separate.”

John Muir

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir atop Hetch Hetchy

The Early Years: 1864-1932

American authors wrote about the problems of the cities, advocated a return to nature

Yosemite commissioned first state park (1890), later upgraded to national park (1906)

Chickamauga National Park (1890) First battlefield park Earned recognition through President Theodore Roosevelt, who

advocated conservation and preservation as part of his Square Deal National cemeteries already established after civil war Roads build to encourage tourist auto access Hetch Hetchy becomes the first major environmental debate: Should

the gov’t permit damming for electricity and water usage? Commissioned Parks: Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier,

Zion, Rocky Mtn., Mt. McKinley, Grand Teton, Hawaii Volcanoes

Stephen T. Mather (1867-1930)

First director of the National Park Administration (1916-1928) for $4,500 annual salary

Selected national parks for their uniqueness

Employed “quality” people, such as veterans

Upgraded park grounds for public appeal

“There will never come an end to the good that

he has done”Mathers Epitaph

Yellowstone: 1872 1870: Marked first “official”

exploration of the territory; • Gen. Henry D. Washburn led U.S.

cavalry to protect western settlers from the Crow and Blackfeet

• Legends of park spread through word of mouth

1872: Congress passed act for “enjoyment of the people”

Later acts included botany, zoology, geology and commercialism

Travel was recently available from the N. Pacific RR, but unsafe because of Chief Joseph and the

Nez Perce

Yosemite: 1890 Government responded

to environmental degradation by the gold diggers to keep the tourism alive

John Muir Nat’l Park Bill in 1890 established area as state preserve

National guard spent 30 years to protect park from poachers

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Ansel Adams Started work for national

parks in 1919 as a janitor for the Sierra Club HQ.

Love of nature sparked by friend Francis Holm Eastan, experimenting with natural photography

Became main photographer of the natural beauty found in the national parks

Kings Canyon becomes a national park in 1940 under FDR

Aspen Grove

El Capitan, Yosemite

Grand Tetons

Saguaro Forest, Arizona

Saguaro Cactus, Arizona

Pueblo, New Mexico

L.A. Freeway, 1960

National Park ServiceNational Park Service: Established

August 25, 1916

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“Our goal is to offer a window into the historical richness of the

National Park System and the opportunities it presents for

understanding who we are, where we have been, and how we as a

society, might approach the future.”

Concessions Started as liaisons between

private business, national parks, and the government

Relationship changed as a result of modern transportation• Railroad and automobiles

transformed transportation• Required new routes and

services

Mather appointed one concessionary to each park

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Awahnee Hotel, Yosemite Valley

From New Deal to Post War: 1933-1956

CCC provided disciplined program: 5 year plans finished in 1 season

Drop in funding during WWII resulted in a short decline in National Park System

The expansion of the Grand Teton Nat’l park set sparks off between state and congressional legislation

Historian, Bernard DeVoto suggested that the parks be closed until they could be properly funded and operated

Everglades, Big Bend, Virgin Islands, Olympic, Kings Canyon, and Grand Teton

The CCC Boys Established 1933 New Deal reform to

employ young men in conservation work

63,256 buildings, 3,116 lookout towers and 28,087 miles of trails; erected 405,037 signs, markers, and monuments; planted 45 million trees; and fought countless fires.

They developed more than 800 state parks

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The Happy Days 1957-1980

The “Report of the Advisory Board on Wildlife Management in the National Parks” inspired by naturalist authors resulted in a permanent staff of scientists in each park to preserve the "condition that prevailed when the area was first visited by the white man.”

Bureau of Outdoor Recreation est. 1962 1971- 180 million visitors State of the Parks Report indicates significant problems:

overcrowding, overbuilding, and insufficient personnel to protect the environment

Canyonlands, Guadalupe Mtn., North Cascades, Redwood

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1981-present Continued tourism results in poor management,

ecosystem failure, and decline personnel morale Over half of Yellowstone burned in a fire during 1981 1984--Bear interaction causes parts of Yellowstone to

be closed off from the public 1992= 75th birthday of Park service Anthropocentrism vs Biocentrism: human or

animal/environmental focus Great Basin, Channel Islands, Biscayne, Death

Valley, Joshua Tree, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon

In Sum

The National Park Service oversees:• Over 390 units of land• Over 58 national parks• Over 84.4 million acres of land• Fundamental American historical sites (including

Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, etc)• Preserves important sites to our common

American heritage• Conserves natural resources, mineral resources,

rare geological resource, and numerous species