Founders' Day -- The National Park Service is 95 Years Old

When Yellowstone, the first National Park, was established in 1872, responsibility for balancing public access with the prevention of poaching and natural resource destruction fell to the U.S. Army. This changed on August 25, 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson approved an an act of Congress creating the National Park Service. The act directed the new agency to

"conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life [in the national parks] 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."

Today the National Park Service safeguards almost 400 National Parks that contain natural landmarks, historic sites, archeological sites, museum collections, and endangered species.