national park

File:Koli 2019 2.jpg in North Karelia, Finland, have inspired many painters and composers, including Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho, and Eero Järnefelt.{{cite news|url=https://www.nationalparks.fi/kolinp/history|title=History of Koli National Park|website=Nationalparks.fi|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=27 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127160710/https://www.nationalparks.fi/kolinp/history|url-status=live}}]]

File:Puerto Escondido P N Manuel Antonio.JPG in Costa Rica was listed by Forbes as one of the world's 12 most beautiful national parks.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2011/08/29/the-worlds-most-beautiful-national-parks/|title=The World's Most Beautiful National Parks|author=Jane Levere|work=Forbes|date=29 August 2011|access-date=4 October 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001031720/http://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2011/08/29/the-worlds-most-beautiful-national-parks/|archive-date=1 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}]]

File:Beech trees in Mallard Wood, New Forest - geograph.org.uk - 779513.jpg, Hampshire, England]]

In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics:Gulez, Sumer (1992). A method of evaluating areas for national park status.

• One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty;
• Highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation as soon as possible in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of ecological, geomorphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and
• Visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreative purposes.

In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include:

• Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence
• Statutory legal protection
• Budget and staff sufficient to provide effective protection
• Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources (including the development of dams) qualified by such activities as sport, hunting, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.

While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example:European Environment Agency [http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/protected-areas-in-europe-2012/download Protected areas in Europe – an overview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010816/http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/protected-areas-in-europe-2012/download |date=24 September 2015 }} In: EEA Report No 5/2012 Kopenhagen: 2012 {{ISBN|978-92-9213-329-0}} {{ISSN|1725-9177}} [http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/protected-areas-in-europe-2012/download pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010816/http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/protected-areas-in-europe-2012/download |date=24 September 2015 }} doi=10.2800/55955

• Swiss National Park, Switzerland: IUCN Ia – Strict Nature Reserve
• Everglades National Park, United States: IUCN Ib – Wilderness Area
• Koli National Park, Finland: IUCN II – Surface Area
• Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe: IUCN III – National Monument
• Vitosha National Park, Bulgaria: IUCN IV – Habitat Management Area
• New Forest National Park, United Kingdom: IUCN V – Protected Landscape
• Etniko Ygrotopiko Parko Delta Evrou, Greece: IUCN VI – Managed Resource Protected Area

While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia, with the exception of six national parks, national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces. In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by the IUCN definition.John S. Marsh, "[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/provincial-parks Provincial Parks]", {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310160520/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/provincial-parks |date=10 March 2020 }}, in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada, 2018‑05‑30), [accessed 2020‑02‑18].

In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks.

File:012 035 Ile Mingan Niapiscau.jpg,{{cite web |title=Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mingan-archipelago-national-park-reserve |publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=2024-01-12 |date=2015-01-03 |quote=Oddly shaped rock pillars sculpted by wind and sea create the unique islandscape of the natural reserve}} Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, Canada]]

As many countries do not adhere to the IUCN definition, the term "national park" may be used loosely. In the United Kingdom, and in some other countries such as Taiwan, a "national park" simply describes a general area that is relatively undeveloped, scenic, and attracts tourists, with some form of planning restrictions to ensure it maintains those characteristics. There may be substantial human settlements within the bounds of a national park.

Conversely, parks that meet the criteria may be not be referred to as "national parks". Terms like "preserve" or "reserve" may be used instead.

Starting in 1735 the Naples government undertook laws to protect Natural areas, which could be used as a game reserve by the royal family; Procida was the first protected site;{{cite web|url=https://www.fondazionecariforli.it/downloads/files/3-La-regia-caccia-di-torre-guevara-nel-settecento.pdf|author=Angela de Sario|title=La "Regia Caccia" Di Torre Guevara Nel Settecento|website=Fondazionecariforli.it|access-date=28 February 2022|archive-date=22 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022120321/https://www.fondazionecariforli.it/downloads/files/3-La-regia-caccia-di-torre-guevara-nel-settecento.pdf|url-status=live}} the difference between the many previous royal hunting preserves and this one, which is considered to be closer to a Park rather than a hunting preserve,Museo privato Agriturismo Maria Sofia di Borbone, Azienda Agricola Le Tre Querce, Seminara, Calabria, organised by the Study Centre for Environmental Education in the Mediterranean Area of Reggio, Italy is that Neapolitan government already considered the division into the present-day wilderness areas and non-strict nature reserves.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a "sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy."{{cite book|last=Wordsworth|first=William|author-link=William Wordsworth|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_idlAAAAAYAAJ|quote=sort of national property in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy.|title=A guide through the district of the lakes in the north of England with a description of the scenery, &c. for the use of tourists and residents|edition=5th|location=Kendal, England|publisher=Hudson and Nicholson|year=1835|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_idlAAAAAYAAJ/page/n122 88]}} The painter George Catlin, in his travels through the American West, wrote during the 1830s that Native Americans in the United States might be preserved "(by some great protecting policy of government) ... in a magnificent park ... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!"{{cite book|last=Catlin|first=George|author-link=George Catlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MA4TAAAAYAAJ&q=%7C%28by+some+great+protecting+policy+of+government%29|title=Letters and Notes on the manners, customs, and condition of the North American Indians: written during eight years' travel amongst the wildest tribes of Indians in North America in 1832, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39|volume=1|year=1841|location=Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London|publisher=Published by the author|pages=261–262|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501132843/https://books.google.com/books?id=MA4TAAAAYAAJ&q=%7C(by+some+great+protecting+policy+of+government)#v=snippet&q=%7C(by%20some%20great%20protecting%20policy%20of%20government)&f=false|archive-date=1 May 2016|df=dmy-all}}

File:Tunnel View, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite NP - Diliff.jpg, Yosemite National Park, California, United States]]

The first effort by the U.S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that the 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas, to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government.{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/hosp/historyculture/upload/chronology.web.pdf |title=Hot Springs of Arkansas Through the Years: A Chronology of Events |access-date=30 March 2008 |last=Shugart |first=Sharon |year=2004 |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414015510/http://www.nps.gov/hosp/historyculture/upload/chronology.web.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2008 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite book|chapter-url=http://constitution.org/uslaw/sal/004_statutes_at_large.pdf|chapter=Twenty-Second Congress, Session 1, Chap. 70: An Act authorizing the governor of the territory of Arkansas to lease the salt springs, in said territory, and for other purposes (April 20, 1832)|title=The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to 3 March 1845, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America from December 1863, to December 1865|editor=Peters, Richard|volume=4|location=Boston|publisher=Charles C. Little and James Brown|page=505|year=1866|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115233149/http://constitution.org/uslaw/sal/004_statutes_at_large.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2011|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|title=Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872)|url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=45|website=Our Documents.gov|access-date=9 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200955/http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=45|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}} It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877. The work of important leaders who fought for animal and land conservation were essential in the development of legal action. Some of these leaders include President Abraham Lincoln, Laurance Rockefeller, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to name a few.{{Cite web|title=Mission & History|url=https://www.nationalparks.org/about-foundation/mission-history|access-date=2022-02-11|website=National Park Foundation|language=en|archive-date=14 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214234521/https://www.nationalparks.org/about-foundation/mission-history|url-status=live}}

John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite.{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Barbara Kiely|title=John Muir|publisher=Gareth Stevens|year=2008|page=10|isbn=978-0836883183}} He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation.John Muir. [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_treasures_of_the_yosemite/ "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102195140/http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_treasures_of_the_yosemite/ |date=2 November 2014 }} The Century Magazine, Vol. XL. September 1890. No. 5John Muir. [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_treasures_of_the_yosemite/ "The Treasures of the Yosemite"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102195140/http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_treasures_of_the_yosemite/ |date=2 November 2014 }} The Century Magazine, Vol. XL. August 1890. No. 4

President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on 1 July 1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias (later becoming Yosemite National Park) to the state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone was put under national control at its establishment six years later.Adam Wesley Dean. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141102171047/http://mtw160-198.ippl.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/civil_war_history/v056/56.4.dean.pdf Natural Glory in the Midst of War: The Establishment of Yosemite State Park] In: Abstract. Civil War History, Volume 56, Number 4, December 2010, pp. 386–419 | 10.1353/cwh.2010.0008{{cite book|chapter-url=http://constitution.org/uslaw/sal/013_statutes_at_large.pdf|page=325|chapter=Thirty-Eighth Congress, Session 1, Chap. 184: An Act authorizing a Grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite Valley" and of the Land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove" (June 30, 1864)|title=38th United States Congress, Session 1, 1864. In: The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America from December 1863, to December 1865|editor=Sanger, George P.|editor-link=George P. Sanger|volume=13|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|year=1866|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116010746/http://constitution.org/uslaw/sal/013_statutes_at_large.pdf|archive-date=16 November 2011|df=dmy-all}}

File:Aerial image of Grand Prismatic Spring (view from the south).jpg in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States; Yellowstone was the first national park in the world.]]

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States' first national park,Mangan, Elizabeth U. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/yehtml/yeabout.html Yellowstone, the First National Park from Mapping the National Parks] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019090110/http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/yehtml/yeabout.html |date=19 October 2013 }}. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. being also the world's first national park. In some European and Asian countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed - though typically as game reserves and recreational grounds set aside for royalty, such as a part of the Forest of Fontainebleau (France, 1861).Kimberly A. Jones, Simon R. Kelly, Sarah Kennel, Helga Kessler-Aurisch, In the forest of Fontainebleau: painters and photographers from Corot to Monet, National Gallery of Art, 2008, p.23

Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory. With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land, the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured the passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt and his group of conservationists, the Boone and Crockett Club, were active campaigners and were highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill. Yellowstone National Park soon played a pivotal role in the conservation of these national treasures, as it was suffering at the hands of poachers and others who stood at the ready to pillage what they could from the area. Theodore Roosevelt and his newly formed Boone and Crockett Club successfully took the lead in protecting Yellowstone National Park from this plight, resulting in laws designed to conserve the natural resources in Yellowstone and other parks under the Government's purview.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner wrote: "National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."{{cite web|date=16 January 2003|title=Famous Quotes Concerning the National Parks: Wallace Stegner, 1983|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/NPSThinking/famousquotes.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508031121/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/NPSThinking/famousquotes.htm|archive-date=8 May 2011|access-date=24 October 2011|work=Discover History|publisher=National Park Service|df=dmy-all}}

File:Andhika bayu nugraha-taman nasional bromo tengger semeru.jpg, East Java, Indonesia]]

File:Late Afternoon at North & South Era.jpg, New South Wales, Australia]]

The first area to use "national park" in its creation legislation was the U.S.'s Mackinac National Park, in 1875. (The area was later transferred to the state's authority in 1895, thus losing its official "national park" status.{{cite web|title=Mackinac Island|url=http://www.michigan.gov/mshda/0,4641,7-141-54317_19320_61909_61927-54596--,00.html|website=Michigan State Housing Development Authority|access-date=9 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105141143/https://michigan.gov/mshda/0,4641,7-141-54317_19320_61909_61927-54596--,00.html|archive-date=5 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}Kim Allen Scott, 2011 "Robertson's Echo The Conservation Ethic in the Establishment of Yellowstone and Royal National Parks" Yellowstone Science 19:3)

Following the idea established in Yellowstone and Mackinac, there soon followed parks in other nations. In Australia, what is now Royal National Park was established just south of Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, on 26 April 1879, becoming the world's second official national park.{{cite web|title=1879: Australia's first national park created|url=http://www.nma.gov.au/online_features/defining_moments/featured/first_national_park|website=National Museum of Australia|access-date=9 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128023110/http://www.nma.gov.au/online_features/defining_moments/featured/first_national_park|archive-date=28 January 2016|df=dmy-all}} Since Mackinac lost its national park status, the Royal National Park is, by some considerations, the second oldest national park now in existence.{{cite web |url=http://pinkava.asu.edu/starcentral/microscope/portal.php?pagetitle=getcollection&collectionID=127 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102063535/http://pinkava.asu.edu/starcentral/microscope/portal.php?pagetitle=getcollection&collectionID=127 | archive-date=2 November 2014 | title=Audley Bottom | publisher=Pinkava.asu.edu | access-date=3 November 2014 }}Rodney Harrison, 2012 "Heritage: Critical approaches" Routledge

File:Bergtocht van Peio Paese naar Lago Covel (1,839 m) in het Nationaal park Stelvio (Italië). Lago Covel (1,839 m).jpg, Italy]]

Banff National Park became Canada's first national park in 1885. New Zealand established Tongariro National Park in 1887.

File:Lapporten 2.jpg, Sweden, one of the first national parks established in Europe]]

In Europe, the first national parks were a set of nine parks in Sweden in 1909, followed by the Swiss National Park in 1914. Africa's first national park was established in 1925 when Albert I of Belgium designated an area of what is now Democratic Republic of Congo centred on the Virunga Mountains as the Albert National Park (since renamed Virunga National Park).

File:Ranthambore National Park.JPG In Rajasthan, India]]

File:Valley of Desolation - South Africa (2417725127).jpg, South Africa]]

In 1895, the Groenkloof Nature Reserve was established as the first game sanctuary in Africa. In 1926, the government of South Africa designated Kruger National Park as the nation's first national park, although it was an expansion of the earlier Sabie Game Reserve established in 1898 by President Paul Kruger of the old South African Republic, after whom the park was named.

Argentina became the third country in the Americas to create a national park system, with the creation of the Nahuel Huapi National Park in 1934, through the initiative of Francisco Moreno.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

After World War II, national parks were founded all over the world. The United Kingdom designated its first national park, Peak District National Park, in 1951. This followed perhaps 70 years of pressure for greater public access to the landscape. By the end of the decade a further nine national parks had been designated in the UK.{{Cite web|url=https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/about-the-national-park/our-history|title=History of our National Park|website=Peak District National Park|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=14 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714041006/https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/about-the-national-park/our-history|url-status=live}} Europe has some 359 national parks as of 2010.{{citation needed|date=November 2010}} The Vanoise National Park in the Alps was the first French national park, created in 1963 after public mobilization against a touristic project.

File:Viru raba enne päikesetõusu.jpg in the Lahemaa National Park, Estonia, before sunrise]]

In 1971, Lahemaa National Park in Estonia was the first area to be designated a national park in the former Soviet Union.

In 1973, Mount Kilimanjaro was classified as a National Park and was opened to public access in 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.privatekilimanjaro.com/about_kilimanjaro_park.asp|title=Kilimanjaro: The National Park|work=Private Kilimanjaro: About Kilimanjaro|publisher=Private Expeditions, Ltd.|year=2011|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017152135/http://privatekilimanjaro.com/about_kilimanjaro_park.asp|archive-date=17 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}

In 1989, the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) was created to protect 3.381 million hectares on the north slope of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This national park is the first major global park to have no separate warden and protection staff—all of its management consists of existing local authorities, allowing a lower cost basis and a larger geographical coverage (in 1989 when created, it was the largest protected area in Asia). It includes four of the six tallest mountains in the world: Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu. The QNNP is contiguous to four Nepali national parks, creating a transnational conservation area equal in size to Switzerland.Daniel C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor, Empowerment on an Unstable Planet New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, Chapter 9

In 1993, the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park was established in Jamaica to conserve and protect 41,198 hectares, including tropical montane rainforest and adjacent buffer areas.{{Cite web |title=The National Park - Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park |url=https://www.blueandjohncrowmountains.org/about |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.blueandjohncrowmountains.org}} The site includes Jamaica's tallest peak (Blue Mountain Peak), hiking trails and a visitor center. The Park was also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Blue and John Crow Mountains |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1356/ |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}

The world's first national park service was established May 19, 1911, in Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.wwf.ca/newsroom/?uNewsID=9381 |title=WWF News and Stories |access-date=25 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011646/http://www.wwf.ca/newsroom/?uNewsID=9381 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/travel/northamerica/article/990243--parks-canada-celebrates-a-century-of-discovery|title=Parks Canada celebrates a century of discovery|last=Irish|first=Paul|date=13 May 2011|work=Toronto Star|access-date=18 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516235956/http://www.thestar.com/travel/northamerica/article/990243--parks-canada-celebrates-a-century-of-discovery|archive-date=16 May 2011|df=dmy-all}} The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act placed the dominion parks under the administration of the Dominion Park Branch (now Parks Canada), within the Department of the Interior. The branch was established to "protect sites of natural wonder" to provide a recreational experience, centred on the idea of the natural world providing rest and spiritual renewal from the urban setting.{{cite news|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crp-trc/htm/evolution_e.asp|title=Parks Canada History|date=2 February 2009|work=Parks Canada|access-date=30 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022095725/http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crp-trc/htm/evolution_e.asp|archive-date=22 October 2016|df=dmy-all}} Canada now has the largest protected area in the world with 450,000 km² of national park space.{{cite news|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/voyage-travel|title=Parks Canada|access-date=30 August 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323053512/http://www.pc.gc.ca/|archive-date=23 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}

Even with the creation of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and nearly 37 other national parks and monuments, another 44 years passed before an agency was created in the United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The 64th United States Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act, which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on 25 August 1916. Of the {{National Park Units}} sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 63 carry the designation of National Park.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm |title=National Park System (U.S. National Park Service) |date=2019-05-17 |access-date=16 July 2018 |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420174702/https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm |url-status=live }}File:Teufelsschloss-greenland.jpg in Kaiser-Franz-Joseph-Fjord, East Greenland. The site is now part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.]]

Countries with a large ecotourism industry, such as Costa Rica, often experience a huge economic effect on park management as well as the economy of the country as a whole.Eagles, Paul F.J. [http://ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~eagles/documents/TrendsbyEagles.pdf "Trends in Park Tourism: Economics, Finance and Management".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105416/http://ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~eagles/documents/TrendsbyEagles.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} In: Journal of Sustainable Tourism Volume 10, Issue 2, 2002, p. 134. {{doi|10.1080/09669580208667158}}

{{See|Ecotourism}}

Tourism to national parks has increased considerably over time. In Costa Rica for example, a megadiverse country, tourism to parks has increased by 400% from 1985 to 1999. The term national park is perceived as a brand name that is associated with nature-based tourism and it symbolizes a "high quality natural environment with a well-designed tourist infrastructure".Eagles, Paul F.J. [http://ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~eagles/documents/TrendsbyEagles.pdf "Trends in Park Tourism: Economics, Finance and Management".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105416/http://ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~eagles/documents/TrendsbyEagles.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} In: Journal of Sustainable Tourism Volume 10, Issue 2, 2002, p. 133. {{doi|10.1080/09669580208667158}}

The duties of a park ranger are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of park resources. This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and the development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public. Park rangers also have fire fighting responsibilities and execute search and rescue missions. Activities also include heritage interpretation to disseminate information to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information. Management of resources such as wildlife, lake shores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archaeological properties, and recreation areas are also part of the job of a park ranger.U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Handbook of occupational groups and families. Washington, D.C. January 2008. Page 19. [http://www.opm.gov/FEDCLASS/GSHBKOCC.pdf OPM.gov] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103205044/http://www.opm.gov/fedclass/gshbkocc.pdf |date=3 January 2009 }} Accessed 2 November 2014. Since the establishment of the National Park Service in the US in 1916, the role of the park ranger has shifted from merely being a custodian of natural resources to include several activities that are associated with law enforcement.R Meadows ; D L Soden In: [https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=110802 National Park Ranger Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Law Enforcement Issues.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110437/https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=110802 |date=4 March 2016 }} Abstract. Justice Professional Volume:3 Issue:1 (Spring 1988) Pages:70–93 They control traffic, manage permits for various uses, and investigate violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents.

National parks in former European colonies have come under criticism for allegedly perpetuating colonialism. National parks were created by individuals who felt that pristine, natural sections of nature should be set aside and preserved from urban development. In America, this movement came about during the American frontier and were meant to be monuments to America's true history.{{Cite book|last=William.|first=Cronon|title=Uncommon ground: rethinking the human place in nature|date=1996|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co|isbn=0-393-31511-8|oclc=36306399}} Yet, in some instances, the lands that were to be set aside and protected in formerly colonized lands were already being inhabited by native communities, who were then removed off of these lands to create pristine sites for public consumption. Critics claim that the removal of people from national parks enhances the belief that nature can only be protected when humans do not exist within it, and that this leads to perpetuating the dichotomy between nature and humans (also known as the nature–culture divide). They see the creation of national parks as a form of eco-land grabbing.{{Cite book|last=Claus|first=C. Anne|title=Drawing the Sea Near|date=2020-11-03|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|doi=10.5749/j.ctv1bkc3t6|isbn=978-1-4529-5946-7|s2cid=230646912}} Others claim that traveling to national parks to appreciate nature there leads people to ignore the nature that exists around them every day. Still others argue that tourism can actually negatively impact the areas that are being visited.{{Cite journal|last1=Büscher|first1=Bram|last2=Fletcher|first2=Robert|date=2019|title=Towards Convivial Conservation|journal=Conservation and Society|volume=17|issue=3|pages=283|doi=10.4103/cs.cs_19_75|s2cid=195819004|issn=0972-4923|doi-access=free}}

{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Country park
• List of national parks – by country
• Lists of tourist attractions
• Conservation ecology
• Conservation movement
• Conservation park (disambiguation)
• Federal lands (United States)
• Fossil park
• Freedom to roam
• Global Geoparks Network
• International Park
• National monument
• National Historic Site
• National Park Foundation
• Open Country
• Provincial park
• State park
• Sustainable development
• United Nations Environment Programme
• World Database on Protected Areas

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{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xIWwmVUUU4wC |title = Tourism in National Parks and Protected Areas: Planning and Management |publisher = CABI |author=Eagles, Paul F. J |author2=McCool, Stephen F. |year = 2002 |isbn = 0851997597}} 320 pages.
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FG6HsjlcfoC | title = Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History |publisher = Yale University Press |author=Sellars, Richard West |year = 2009 |isbn = 978-0300154146}} 404 pages.
• Sheail, John (2010) Nature's Spectacle - The World's First National Parks and Protected Places Earthscan, London, Washington. {{ISBN|978-1-84971-129-6}}

{{Sister project links | 1= | display= | author= | wikt= | commons= | n= | q= | s= | b= | voy=National parks | v= | d= | species=no | species_author=no | m=no | mw=no }}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/areas/37/| website=Biodiversity A-Z| title=Areas of Biodiversity Importance: National Parks| access-date=21 April 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516232146/http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/areas/37| archive-date=16 May 2011}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.europarc.org/ |website=EUROPARC Federation|title= Europe's protected areas}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/faqs.htm |website=U.S. National Park Service |title=FAQs}}
• {{cite web|website=Travel Is Free|title=Map of All The World's National Parks|url=http://travelisfree.com/2018/09/10/map-of-all-the-worlds-national-parks/#more-17443|author=Macomber, Drew|date=September 10, 2018}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/mab/ |website=UNESCO|title= Man and the Biosphere Programme (Biosphere Reserves)|date=7 January 2019}}
• {{cite web|url=http://nationalparks.nighthee.com/| website=nighthee.com| title=National parks, landscape parks and protected areas in the world| access-date=11 August 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905182433/http://nationalparks.nighthee.com/| archive-date=5 September 2015}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/swiat.htm|website=amu.edu.pl|title=National Parks Worldwide|access-date=3 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119140316/http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/swiat.htm|archive-date=19 January 2008|df=dmy-all}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.protectedplanet.net |website=Protected Planet |title= World Database of Protected Areas}}
• {{cite web|url=http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu |website=by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission |title= Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA)}}
• {{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/ |website=UNESCO|title=World Heritage Sites}}

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