Origins of the National Park Idea

Western View of Nature

Shift from Hunting and Gathering: When agriculture became prevalent, a Western worldview emerged.
Anthropocentrism: A belief in human superiority over all other life forms, assuming the universe exists to serve human needs.
Instrumental Value: Value placed on life forms primarily for their utility to humans, such as sources of wood, shelter, and warmth.
Conquest and Consumption: Nature was largely seen as something to be conquered or used up.
Early American Settlers: Held similar views, with civilization, not nature, being the source of the sacred. This ethos was epitomized by "Manifest Destiny!"

Spirituality and Respect for Nature

Native American Heritage: Nature was central to Native American cultural and spiritual heritage, fostering a relationship of harmony and celebration.
Pioneer Mindset: In contrast, pioneers aimed to conquer nature, showing little regard for biological diversity, Native Americans, or Mexicans.
Historical Progression: The journey from early settlers to the Industrial Revolution and up to $20^{th}$ century consumerism saw extensive exploitation of lands and resources.
Later Reverence: Subsequently, there was a renewed reverence for nature, leading to the idea of using public lands for spiritual refreshment.

Drivers of Westward Expansion

Louisiana Purchase (1803): Acquired from the French for 15 million, extending from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to "civilize" the land through ownership and farming.
California Gold Rush (1848-1855): Drew approximately 90,000 settlers in under 2 years and 300,000 total. This period also saw California paying a militia to drive Native Americans from contested lands, leading to what is known as the "California Genocide."
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1805): Explored and mapped the newly acquired territories.
Oregon Trail (1840s+): Facilitated mass migration westward. By $1840$, approximately 7 million people lived west of the Appalachians, constituting 40% of the U.S. population.

Key Events During Westward Expansion

Darwin's Theory of Evolution (1859): Published, influencing scientific and philosophical thought.
First Pony Express Delivery (1860): Improved communication across the vast distances.
Union Pacific Railroad Goes West (1865): Marked a significant step in infrastructure development.
U.S. Purchases Alaska from Russia (1867): Further expanded U.S. territory.
Wyoming Grants Women Right to Vote (1869): A landmark decision for women's suffrage.
Transcontinental Railroad Completed (1869): Revolutionized travel and transportation.
Massive Rail Ad Campaign (1870): Actively attracted settlers to the West.

Impact on Native Americans

Matrilineal Societies: Many tribes were matrilineal, contrasting with European patriarchal norms.
Communal Living: Valued collective and communal structures over individual property rights.
Smallpox: The biggest cause of decline, leading to rapid and severe population reduction.
Broken Treaties and Massacres: Government actions resulted in widespread displacement and violence.
Forcible Removal and Assimilation: Ethnic cleansing and enslavement led to forced relocation and assimilation policies.
Population Decline: A 90% drop in the overall Native American population from the time of Columbus.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

President Andrew Jackson: Authorized the government to relocate Native Americans from their homelands to west of the Mississippi River as part of the expansion policy.
Land Exchange: Aimed to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi for lands to the west.
Trail of Tears (1830-1850): Resulted in the forced relocation of 100,000 Native Americans to the southwest. Thousands died during, before, or shortly after arrival due to exposure, starvation, disease, and exhaustion.

Key Legislation for Expansion

Pacific Railroad Act (1862) and Second Railroad Act (1864): Authorized the construction of the transcontinental rail line.
Homestead Act (1862): Allowed settlers to claim up to 160 acres of public land, promoting agricultural settlement.
Desert Land Act (1877): Aimed to settle arid areas requiring large-scale farming and irrigation, often by private companies.
Reclamation Act (1902): Funded irrigation projects for arid lands in the West, supporting agriculture.

Recreation in Everyday Life

Early American Settlers: Puritanical standards generally forbade recreation.
Gradual Acceptance: Gradually, Sunday became a day for leisure.
Dutch Settlers and Wealthy Southerners: Not as strict with Sabbath observance, allowing more leisure activities.
Recreation "Back East": Sports like golf, tennis, bicycling, baseball, basketball, and football became popular.
Western Frontier Recreation: Featured rougher sports such as wrestling, gouging, hunting, horse racing, and tomahawk hurling. Hunting, fishing, skating, and resorts for the wealthy were also common.
Public School Enrollment: Doubled between $1870$ and $1900$, indicating societal changes and increased leisure time for children.

Transcendentalism and Romanticism

Romanticism (1800-1850): Emphasized intuition, imagination, and emotion as more direct paths to truth. Expressed concern over the spread of industry, new technology, and separation from nature.
Transcendentalism (1830s-1840s): Believed nature is a reflection of the divine spirit, offering a path to transcend one's thoughts to a grander level of ultimate understanding.
- "Belief in the Higher Law of God": God is present in every aspect of nature and in every human being.
- Also supported social reforms like anti-slavery, peace, and women's rights.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote: "In the woods is perpetual youth… In the wood, we return to reason and faith. There I feel nothing can befall me in life…which nature cannot repair." (From Nature).

Influential People – The Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882):
- Considered the Father of the Transcendentalism Movement.
- Leading lecturer and author on the subject.
- Stated, "Nature is loved by what is best in us."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862):
- Combined transcendental and scientific examination of nature.
- Considered the Father of the Environmental Movement.
- Famously said, "In wilderness is the preservation of the world."

Sites of Early Exploitation & Preservation Efforts

Niagara Falls (1800s): America's paramount scenic wonder, but local landowners exploited it with fences, charges to view, tacky souvenirs, and unsanitary conditions.
Yosemite Valley: Faced similar patterns of exploitation within five years of discovery, including land claims, tolls, and haphazard tourism.
First Preservation Move (1864): Yosemite Valley was ceded as a state park to California, to be held "for public use, resort, and recreation."

Government Involvement in Preservation

Need for Control: Realized that government control and oversight were needed for lands in the "public domain."
Private Exploitation: Private enterprises viewed public lands as common property for profit, disregarding the spectacle and public access.
Land Withdrawal: Lands were withdrawn from "alienation" (private ownership) for the first time.
Yosemite (1864): Turned over to California as a state park.
Yellowstone (1872): Declared the World's First National Park ( 44 years before the National Park Service). Since Wyoming was not yet a state, it could not be entrusted to a state government.

Earliest National Park Idea

Search for National Identity: Unlike Europe's castles and art, America sought a national identity through its natural wonders and unique land system.
Claim to Antiquity: America finally had a claim to antiquity through its natural heritage.
Congressional Action: Congress began to limit exploitation, influenced by figures like Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir.
Lack of Structure: Initially, there was no organizational structure to manage these areas; they fell under the Department of Interior, lacking budget or oversight, making them vulnerable.
"Economically Worthless" Land: To be considered for park status, land often had to be deemed economically "worthless."

Buffalo Soldiers

First Rangers: Served as the first rangers in Yosemite and Yellowstone.
Army Role: Managed parks because there was no established civilian organization.
Duties: Stopped poaching and illegal grazing, fought wildfires, chased out timber thieves, and built roads, trails, and other infrastructure.

Influential People - The Naturalists

John James Audubon (1785-1851): Foremost conservationist, artist, and ornithologist.
George Catlin (1796-1872): Artist of Native Americans, often credited with conceiving the idea of a national park (1832).
John Muir (1838-1914):
- Father of the National Park System.
- Believed wilderness exists for the value of its existence alone.
- Fought for preservation against utilitarian views.
George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938): Founded the Boone and Crockett Club (1886) with Teddy Roosevelt.
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948): Father of Wildlife Ecology and a pioneer of wilderness ethics.

Influential People - The Practitioner Pioneers

Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919): Early champion of the park system.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960): The most generous philanthropist in conservation history.
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903): Created landscape architecture as a profession and designed Central Park (1858).
Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946):
- First Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.
- Advocated for "rational use" to maximize benefits for the most people possible, a philosophy known as conservation.

Teddy Roosevelt's Role in Conservation

U.S. Forest Service (1905): Established the agency.
Antiquities Act (1906): Signed into law.
Protections Created:
- 5 national parks.
- 18 national monuments, including Grand Canyon (1908).
- First 51 bird reserves.
- 4 game preserves.
- 150 national forests, including Shoshone (the nation's first).
Total Area Protected: Approximately 230,000,000 acres.
"Wise Use" Approach: While a staunch conservationist, he generally subscribed more to the "wise use" philosophy (sustainable resource management) than strict preservation.

Change in Public Attitude and Policy

Growth of the NPS System: From the first National Park (Yellowstone $1872$) and first laws (Antiquities Act $1906$), efforts became more direct to shape a coherent system.
Maturation of Management Policy: The Organic Act (1916) created mandates that contained both preservation and recreation directives, leading to ongoing challenges.
Shifting Attitudes: Changes in public and government attitudes, alongside the maturation of ecological science, caused a major shift.
Policy Shift: From allowing private exploitation of America's natural resources to setting aside public land for protection and public enjoyment.

Key Legislation for National Parks

Yosemite Grant (1864): Ceded Yosemite Valley to the State of California for public use.
Yellowstone National Park Act (1872): Set aside more than 2 million acres as a public "pleasuring ground" for the "preservation…of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities or wonders…and their retention in their natural condition."
Antiquities Act (1906):
- Authorized presidents to preserve "objects of historic or scientific interest" as national monuments by Proclamation, without direct Congressional approval.
- Devil's Tower (1906) became the first national monument.
- Mesa Verde (1906) became the first park established primarily for its historic or cultural value.

Conflict over Hetch Hetchy Valley

Single Use vs. Multiple Use: A major debate arose over whether to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to provide water for San Francisco.
Raker Act (1913): This act allowed the damming, leaving the area vulnerable due to a lack of formal oversight organization for national parks.
Split between Muir and Pinchot: Led to a philosophical divide between John Muir (preservationist) and Gifford Pinchot (conservationist).
- Pinchot's Argument: Argued that damming was a wise use of resources, and preservation unnecessarily limited utilization for human benefit.
- Muir's Fight: Fought vehemently against the damming but ultimately lost.
Legacy: This conflict sparked the first "grass roots" lobbying efforts in conservation, which later helped prevent the damming of the Grand Canyon. It also solidified the distinction between two types of federal agencies: the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service.

U.S. Forest Service (1905) vs. National Park Service (1916)

U.S. Forest Service (USFS):
- Mandate: Multiple use and consumption; a "conservation" agency.
- Philosophy: "Wise and careful use" leading to sustainability; extract and replenish resources.
- Aim: To balance resource extraction, economic use, resource protection, and providing recreation.
National Park Service (NPS):
- Mandate: To protect "as is"; protection of nature from use, from humans.
- Philosophy: Long-term, hands-off preservation; protect from human influence.
- Aim: To balance preservation (often single/restricted use), public access, and political mandates.

Organic Act (1916)$$

Creation of NPS: Established the National Park System.
Core Mission: "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."
Ongoing Challenge: This dual mandate for both preservation and enjoyment has been a source of early and ongoing confusion and challenge in managing the national parks. The phrase "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations" is central to its interpretation.