Leisure and recreation may invoke a variety of examples depending on the crowd to which you

are addressing. While some may think of sports or big city exploration, the country’s National Parks
Service has something for everyone no matter where you are. It is fortunate that years ago a variety of
individuals had the forethought to protect some of the most beautiful sites the United States has to
offer. From towering forests, miles of beaches, crystal lakes and eye-catching deserts, the history of the
National Park service has a preserved the wonders of nature for generations to come.

Although it was not the first national park, in 1864, then President Abraham Lincoln listened to
the voices of settlers and travelers who advocated for the protection of the beautiful scenery that was
Yosemite Valley. John Muir, a naturalist, “whose published writings stressed how such wild places were
necessary for the soul, and his advocacy later became the driving force behind the creation of several
national parks.” (U.S. National Parks, In the Beginning, 2010.) The governing bodies heard from
countless sources the more the country was explored, and the further people travelled. The magnificent
wilderness was something that needed protecting. In 1872, a government appointed geological survey
team returned from exploring Yellowstone’s geysers and hot springs and insisted it was worth
protecting. Congress was convinced and President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park
Protection act, giving the responsibility to the Department of the Interior. (Origin of the National Park
Idea, 2016.) Yellowstone thus became the first National Park. While the parks belonged to the Dept. of
Interior, there was no governing body to keep private entities from taking advantage of the resources
within the pristine wilderness. “A millionaire industrialist named Stephen Mather began a crusade” as
the visionary to have a service that would protect the national parks. When congress created the
National Park System in 1916, Stephen Mather became it’s first director.

After the stock market crashed in 1929 and lead to the Great Depression, President Franklin
Roosevelt took office set on lowering unemployment and creating jobs to stimulate the economy. One
of the programs created was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which was instrumental in putting
millions of young men to work in the park systems for forest maintenance and restoration. (Anderson,
Hurd, McLean, 2019) The New Deal program left a lasting impact all over the United States effectively
creating employment and contributing to beautification and conservation of the National Park Service.
One hurdle after the next, the National Park Service faced complaints and grievances after World War II.
The parks had not been maintained and attendance was high, resulting in disgruntled visitors. “In 1955,
National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth persuaded Congress to fund an improvement program for
completion by the National Park Service’s 50th anniversary in 1966.” (Birth of a National Park, 2020)
The money solicited from congress was used to improve visitor-use structures with low cost and low
maintenance buildings that changed the rustic aesthetic to something more simplified. The effort was
successful in rehabbing many structures and roads over the course of the program.

Fast forwarding to 2008, the recession that hit the country did not stop attendance to national
parks, but it did bring funding to very low levels. Prior to the recession, funding for parks and recreation
was growing substantially. According to a report, “this trend reversed during and after the recession, as
spending plummeted by 21.2 percent from 2009 to 2013.” (Barrett, Mowen, Pitas, Roth, 2018) It is
thought-provoking that while people wanted to visit the parks for their low cost, the government cut
from recreation and park funding first.

The pandemic in 2020 demonstrated interesting usage of the National Park Service by the
public. Attendance initially dropped 87% at the beginning of the pandemic (COVID-19 Pandemic Causes
Impacts and Opportunities for U.S. National Parks.). After the initial shock of COVID-19, records showed
that people wanted to be outside in urban areas, but were unable to travel to more remote, less
populated tourist areas thus dropping visitor numbers. The National Park Service was forced to cut
programs, internships, educational events, and research initiatives. Conservation efforts were stopped
or slowed due to the restrictions of the pandemic and the loss of collection data cannot be estimated.
“These lost opportunities will have cascading impacts on students and early career researchers,
managers, and educators during the coming years.” (Miller-Rushing, 2021).

A pandemic, a recession, the great depression, and the effects of war could not keep the
National Park Service down. There continues to be people willing to fight for the preservation of our
most beautiful places in nature. The Department of the Interior (2023) has stated that the National Park
Service reported ‘nearly 312 million visitors spent $23.9 billion in communities within 60 miles of
a national park.’ The National Park Service has shown that we preserve and respect the parks and the
parks give back to the economy.
 U.S. National Parks, In the Beginning. (2010, May) National Geographic.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/article/early-history

Origin of the National Park Idea. (2016, March) National Park Service.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/npshistory-origins.htm

Anderson, D.M, Hurd, A.R., McLean, D.D. (2019) Kraus’ Recreation and Leisure in Modern
Society. (11th ed.) Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Birth of a National Park. (2020, February) National Park Service.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/historyculture/yellowstoneestablishment.htm

Barrett, A. Mowen, A. Pitas, N. Roth, K. (2018, Feb 6) The Great Recession’s Profound Impact on
Parks and Recreation. National Recreation and Park Association. https://www.nrpa.org/parks-
recreation-magazine/2018/february/the-great-recessions-profound-impact-on-parks-and-recreation/

COVID-19 Pandemic Causes Impacts and Opportunities for U.S. National Parks. (2021, April)
National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/acad/learn/news/pandemic-causes-impacts-and-
opportunities-for-u-s-national-parks.htm

Miller-Rushing, A. J. (2021, May) COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on Conservation Research,

Management, and Public Engagement in US National Parks. Science Direct.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320721000902#s0150

Department of the Interior (2023, August) National Park Visitation Sets New Record as Economic
Engines. https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/national-park-visitation-sets-new-record-economic-engines