Happy Birthday National Park Service!
But what does that actually mean?
(Authors Note Before we begin. In Honor of the 110th Birthday of the National Park Service, and the upcoming release of Treasure in the Swamp, for this entire week Both Treasure off the Coast and Treasure of Biscayne Bay are on sale on Amazon.
Click on the links above, or the links below to take you to Amazon’s sales website. For eBook Sales, note the dates/times of the sale. Paperback are on sale until August 31st, 2026.
In addition, stay tuned, as there will be limited-time sales for both books (kindle edition) where you can pick up the eBook for only $0.99.
Treasure off the Coast (eBook) will be available for $0.99 August 26th, 8:00am - August 28th, 11pm. (PDT)
Treasure of Biscayne Bay (eBook) will be available for $0.99 August 28th, 8:00am - August 30th, 11pm (PDT)
(Both of these sales are limited to 63 hours. (one hour for each of the 63 current National Parks.)
Now: On to the Blog!
Happy 110th Birthday National Parks!!!
Today is the anniversary of the founding of the very first National Park established by the champion of all National Parks: President Theodore Roosevelt… Except that it wasn’t.
The Very First National Park was Yellowstone National Park established under the Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872) | National Archives in March 1st of 1872 Which was signed into Law by President Ulysess S. Grant.
The problem, there was no one, really to steward and protect it. Nathaniel P. Langford, a man very interested in preserving the area was given an unpaid supervisory role over the massive new park, and no legal mechanism to protect, or enforce protections over it. Eventually, more superintendents were appointed, with increasing power to protect and develop the park. Some worked out, others didn’t. That entire saga could develop into its own series of articles.
And that is only from a western lens. There’s also an entire indigenous history to the park, including people (the Tukudika) lving inside Yellowstone when the park was founded.
I’ve written a bit about Yellowstone before. But it deserves a deeper dive. (Not into the Hot Springs!!!) But the establishment of the first park isn’t today’s celebration.
So, we’re not celebrating the birthday of the first park. What are we celebrating? The birthday of the second national park? Making it the National Park Service???
Well… about that second park:
Let’s talk about the wonders, excitement and adventure found when visiting Mackinac National Park. . .
Well… we can’t. Because it’s no longer a National Park. It didn’t even make it into the 1900s, much less August 25th, 1916. Which is the date we’re celebrating today.
So, what are we celebrating? President Theodore Roosevelt’s Park Service?
Nope.
President Theodore Roosevelt was an avid champion of the wilderness, and under his service as U.S. President the number of National Parks doubled from 5-10: Protecting parks like Crater Lake, Mesa Verde, and Wind Cave.
He also laid the groundwork for National Monuments and other protected areas of history with the Antiquities Act. Which is another thing that deserves its own article.
But not today.
Today is August 25th, 2026. And were celebrating the 110th birthday of the National Park Service.
And that’s because on this day, 110 years ago, the agency known at the National Park Service was established with the National Park Service Organic Act.
What did this do?
Established 1 agency: The N.P.S. to manage and maintain national parks. Or in the words of the document:
“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 purpose 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.”
Ie. For the past 110 years. The National Park Service, under the Department of the Interior and with leaders appointed and a budget made through congress, has been running to Promote and Regulate use of national parks, monuments, and reservations.
The goal is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects, the wildlife, and provide for the unimpaired enjoyment of the parks for then and future generations.
Basically: Protect the parks, their wildlife, nature, and history, and help people enjoy them without destroying them. But Also Promote the parks, so that people know how and why they are enjoying them.
It’s a dual mandate. Protection/Preservation and Promotion for enjoyment. Congress understood that they weren’t building walled gardens. They weren’t roping off monuments. They were establishing an agency which is supposed to protect the areas, sure, but also leave them open to the public that owns them, and (I think it should be obvious to anyone with a brain) promote an understanding of the nature and history of the areas they are protecting and preserving so that they can be well and fully enjoyed, now and in the future.
A National Park Service done right balances both the goals of Protection and Promotion and also considers the need to steward theses areas not only for the present but also for the future. Which was the entire goal when the N.P.S. was established 110 years ago, and as long as it functions, should allow them to continue existing, unimpaired, for another 110, 220, 330 years, and beyond!
A lot can, has, and will be written about what is being done within and without the park service to both support and impair this mission directive. But today, I just want to note that each of the 433 distinct National Parks in the US has its own story. Not every park is 110 years old, but they are all worth protecting, are all worth promoting, and when something happens which threatens to impair that for the present and future generations, then lets hope that a 110 year old organization will realize that our parks are worth fighting for!
Oh yeah. That series is still ongoing. It will not stop.
Btw:
Here’s another funny anecdote about the National Park Service Organic Act.
While it called for the newly formed National Park Service to oversee all current and future national parks, monuments, and preserves. It made special mention of one park in particular:
“That the director shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, have the supervision, management, and control of the several national parks and national monuments which are now under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, and of the Hot Springs Reservation in the State of Arkansas,”
Meaning that there is another National Park Celebrating a very important milestone on this day: Hot Springs National Park. And while it wouldn’t become a National Park for another 5 years. I did simply find it very funny that special mention of this park was made in the document that established the N.P.S. So, Congrats Hot Springs National Park, and Happy Birthday National Park Service!
In honor of the Birthday, and in anticipation of the launch of the final book in what I am calling the Treasure Trilogy. (Treasure Off the Coast, Treasure of Biscayne Bay, and the to be released Treasure in the Swamp) Paperback copies of the first two books in the trilogy are on sale for the entire week, for $12.99 on Amazon.)
In addition, 1 day and 2 after this blog goes live, the kindle eBooks for both Treasure Off the Coast, and Treasure of Biscayne Bay will be on limited sale for $0.99) So, if you are looking for a deal, or want a cheap way to peruse the books before purchasing the paperback edition. Click the links below (during the dates and times presented) and help celebrate the birthday of one of our nation’s greatest ideas.