National Park Service Organic Act

The secretary of the Department of Interior was put in charge of preserving all timber, mineral deposits, geologic wonders, and other resources within Yellowstone.

Within his 1910 annual report, secretary of the Department of Interior at the time, Richard Ballinger, argued that congress needed to develop a bureau to oversee these national parks.

[4] Beginning in 1911, Smoot and Representative John E. Raker of California had submitted bills to establish the National Park Service to oversee the management of all these holdings.

[5] Successful and influential industrialist Stephen Mather was challenged by Interior Secretary Franklin K. Lane to lobby for legislation creating a bureau to oversee the National Parks.

The group’s regulars were Kent, J. Horace McFarland of the American Civic Association, and the few Washington staff members of the Department of the Interior responsible the National Parks.

First NPS Director Stephen Mather was put in charge of supervising and maintaining all designated national parks, battlefields, historic places, and monuments.

[1] Jordan Fisher Smith's book, Engineering Eden, follows the story of a fatal bear attack in Yellowstone National Park that sparked a subsequent federal trial.

The book addressed the specific circumstances of the death regarding the legal accountability, as well as explored border themes relevant to The NPS Organic Act.

Both Engineering Eden and the Act have strong ties to conservation, restoration, and the management or the natural and cultural resources for future visitors.