Four National Parks Established (1917-1929)

February 26 has an important history in conservation.  On this date, four national parks were established, all within an era of active national park activity, from 1917-1929.

When the National Park Service (NPS) was created in August, 1916 (read more here), a new era of park management—and creation—began.  Created by an Organic Act and housed in the Department of Interior, the NPS had the authority, budget and workforce to become more active in stewardship of our great national heritage of nature, history and culture.  The expansion of the national park system began in earnest and continued for several decades.

Denali National Park (photo by David Dugan)

The first park created under the new NPS was Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska (now Denali National Park).  The debate over creating a large park in the middle of the state had gone on for years—some saw the park as an advantage for future tourism, but most Alaskans wanted access to the land for subsistence and market hunting and for mining.  Spurred by the dauntless energy of Charles Sheldon, however, and by an American populace energized to preserve the western “wilderness,” President Woodrow Wilson signed the park into law on February 26, 1917, almost six months to the day after the NPS was formed.  In the first year of recorded visitation (1922), 7 hardy souls went to the new park; in 2016, nearly 600,000 took the same journey.

Grand Canyon postcard from 1903 (photo by Bruck & Sohn)

Two years exactly after Denali came Grand Canyon National Park, also signed into existence by President Wilson, in 1919.  But the Grand Canyon had traveled a long administrative path on its way to park status, with little of the controversy of other parks.  Protection was first given to the canyon in 1893, as a “federal forest reserve.”  Teddy Roosevelt furthered the protection by declaring part of the area a “federal game reserve” in 1906.  Then, in 1908, motivated on by the passionate entreaties of his friend, John Muir, President Roosevelt elevated the canyon’s status to a national monument, providing the complete protection that eventually led to national park status.  Annual visitation now stands at 6 million, among the most visited of our national parks.

Glacier Bay National park (photo by Dmitry Brant)

Another big chunk of Alaska was preserved on February 26, 1925, when the Glacier Bay National Monument was created by the executive order of President Calvin Coolidge (now glacier Bay national Park and Preserve).  Like Denali, the establishment of this monument was controversial.  The area covered a huge part of southeastern Alaska’s archipelago, rich in timber, game and mineral resources that many Alaskans wanted to develop.  The fight for preservation was led by the Ecological Society of America, a scientific group that saw the area as a critically important biodiversity resource and as a unique research location.  The 3 million acres of Glacier Bay is now also part of the larger 25-million-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Annual visitation is about 500,000.

the Cathedral Group in Grand Teton national Park (photo by Acroterion)

The fourth action on February 26—this time in 1929—was to create Grand Teton National Park.  It was established on this date as a national monument, seeking to protect the Grand Teton mountain range and the lakes that lie at its base from development.  John D. Rockefeller was an active proponent of the park and donated some 30,000 acres to its later enlargement.  In 1943, the monument was reclassified as a national park.  Grand Teton is the southern gateway to Yellowstone National Park.  More than 3 million people visit the park annually.

References:

Anderson, Michael F.  2000.  Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park.  National Park Service.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/historyculture/adhigrca.htm.  Accessed February 16, 2018.

Brown, William E.  1991.  A History of the Denali-Mount McKinley, Region, Alaska.  National Park Service.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/dena/hrs.htm.  Accessed February 16, 2018.

Catton, Theodore.  1995.  Land Reborn:  A History of Administration and Visitor use in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.  National Park Service.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/glba/adhi/index.htm. Accessed February 16, 2018.

Discovergrandteton.org.  Park history.  Available at:  http://www.discovergrandteton.org/park-history/prehistoric-indians/.  Accessed February 16, 2018.

This Month in Conservation

March 1
Yellowstone National Park Established (1872)
March 2
Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, Born (1904)
March 3
World Wildlife Day and Creation of CITES (1973)
March 3
Isle Royale National Park Authorized (1931)
March 4
Hot Springs National Park Established (1921)
March 5
Lynn Margulis, Evolutionary Biologist, Born (1938)
March 6
Martha Burton Williamson, Pioneering Malacologist, Born (1843)
March 7
Luther Burbank Born (1849)
March 8
Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)
March 9
The Turbot War Begins (1995)
March 10
Cape Lookout National Seashore Established (1966)
March 11
Save the Redwoods League Founded (1918)
March 12
Girl Scouts Founded (1912)
March 12
Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)
March 13
National Elephant Day, Thailand
March 14
First National Wildlife Refuge Created (1903)
March 15
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, Born (1874)
March 16
Amoco Cadiz Runs Aground (1978)
March 17
St. Patrick and Ireland’s Snakes
March 18
Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)
March 19
When the Swallows Return to Capistrano
March 20
“Our Common Future” Published (1987)
March 21
International Day of Forests
March 22
World Water Day
March 23
Sitka National Historical Park Created (1910)
March 24
John Wesley Powell, Western Explorer, Born (1834)
March 25
Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, Born (1914)
March 26
Marjorie Harris Carr, Pioneering Florida Conservationist, Born (1915)
March 26
Kruger National Park Established (1898)
March 27
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Begun (1975)
March 28
Joseph Bazalgette, London’s Sewer King, Born (1819)
March 29
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing (1848)
March 30
The United States Buys Alaska (1867)
March 31
Al Gore, Environmental Activist and U.S. Vice President, Born (1948)
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