Government Role in Managing the Environment

The NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM (NPS) was established when John Muir helped persuade Theodore Roosevelt to set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves and over 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks. The National Park Service, created in 1916 as a U.S. federal agency with the passage of the Organic Act, manages all national monuments and national parks, including places of historical and environmental significance.