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The National Park Service (NPS) is the , 1916 by Congress through the ''National Park Service Organic Act'' (16 United States Code, sections 1,2,3 and 4) in order 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." It is an Agency of the United States Department Of The Interior , which is in turn a Cabinet Office of the Executive Branch , overseen by a Secretary nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate . Most of the direct management of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary to the National Park Service Director, who must now also be confirmed by the Senate. The NPS oversees Units , of which 58 are designated National Park s. Among the other unit designations are:
Not all NPS properties are considered to be distinct units. For example, Ellis Island Immigration Museum is not an independent NPS unit; it is a dependent area of Statue Of Liberty National Monument which is one of the units. None of the cemeteries counts as a unit by itself. There is at least one National Park Service site in every State in the nation (and some territories), except Delaware . SPECIAL DIVISIONS The , and the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program. DIRECTORS , current NPS Director]] # Stephen Tyng Mather (May 16, 1917 - January 8, 1929) # Horace M. Albright (January 12, 1929 - August 9, 1933) # Arno B. Cammerer (August 10, 1933 - August 9, 1940) # Newton B. Drury (August 20, 1940 - March 31, 1951) # Arthur E. Demaray (April 1, 1951 - December 8, 1951) # Conrad L. Wirth (December 9, 1951 - January 7, 1964) # George B. Hartzog, Jr. (January 9, 1964 - December 31, 1972) # Ronald H. Walker (January 7, 1973 - January 3, 1975) # Gary Everhardt (January 13, 1975 - May 27, 1977) # William J. Whalen (July 5, 1977 - May 13, 1980) # Russell E. Dickenson (May 15, 1980 - March 3, 1985) # William Penn Mott, Jr. (May 17, 1985 - April 16, 1989) # James M. Ridenour (April 17, 1989 - January 20, 1993) # Roger G. Kennedy (June 1, 1993 - March 29, 1997) # Robert Stanton (August 4, 1997 - January, 2001) # Fran P. Mainella (July 18, 2001 - October, 2006) # Mary A. Bomar (October 17, 2006 - ) NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM ]] The National Park System is a term that describes the collection of all units managed by the National Park Service, and it is not necessary for the title or designation of the unit to include the term "park" - indeed most do not. The system encompasses approximately 84.4 million Acre s (338,000 km&2), of which more than 4.3 million acres (17,000 km&2) remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park And Preserve , Alaska . At 13,200,000 acres ( 53,000 Km&2 ) it is over 16 percent of the entire system. The smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial , Pennsylvania , at 0.02 acre ( 80 M&2 ). In addition to "units", and other properties that the National Park Service either owns or administers, it also provides technical and financial assistance to several "affiliated areas" authorized by Congress. The largest affiliated area is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres (4711 km&2). The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than one hundredth of an acre. National Parks , south rim of canyon.]] Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service manages each of the United States' National Parks, which have grown in number over the years to 58. Yellowstone National Park was the first National Park in the world — in 1872 , there was no State Government to manage it, so the Federal Government assumed direct control. Yosemite National Park began as a State Park ; the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the State of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership. The National Park ''System'' (NPS) includes all properties mananged by the National Park ''Service'' (also, confusingly, "NPS"). The ''System'' as a whole is considered to be a National Treasure of the United States, and some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to Metaphorically as " Crown Jewels ". CONCESSIONS In an effort to increase visitation and allow for a larger audience to enjoy national park land, the National Park Service has numerous Concessions agreements with private businesses to bring recreation, resorts, and other ''compatible'' amenities to their parks. One example of a relationship formed to Adaptively Reuse Historic Buildings on park land in the name of recreation activities is Aviator Sports And Recreation within Gateway National Recreation Area . Other resorts and accommodations also exist such as Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park and the Fort Baker Retreat and Conference Center (currently under renovation / construction, due to open in 2008) in Golden Gate National Recreation Area . These " Adaptive Reuse s" have raised some controversy, however, from concerns about the historical integrity of these buildings after such extensive renovations, and whether such alterations fall within the spirit and/or the letter of the Preservation Laws they are protected by. At most Park Service sites, a bookstore is operated by a cooperating partner. The largest example is Eastern National , which runs bookstores in 30 states. SEE ALSO
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