Talk:History of the National Park Service

Oldest Park
Interesting that Stephen Mather considered Hot Springs the oldest National Park, as published in the original National Parks Portfolio. Interesting also that there is no mention of these "Lines" in that publication. Why is Wikipedia being used to redefine history? I'm going to add the Hot Springs reference, by Mather, and properly footnote it. Rickbolger (talk) 16:57, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

"The reservation [Hot Springs] is the oldest national park, having received that status in 1832, forty years before the wonders of the Yellowstone first inspired Congress with the idea that scenery was a national asset deserving of preservation for the use and enjoyment of succeeding generations." -- Stephen Mather Rickbolger (talk) 17:02, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for checking up on this and other articles. But, I'd dispute whether Stephen Mathers is the best source for the history of the National Park System. {reference the lines concept}}.  After all, his career as director of the National Parks was during a time when most of what is in the National Park System was managed by other Agencies.  As director through 1929, he saw the increase in the system to 35 areas, most of which were National Parks by title.  In 1933, under Horace Albright, the system gained another 71 distinct units (from Defense and Agriculture), with over 720 individual monuments if you wish to separate out all the National Capital Parks across the District of Columbia. Even with Devils Tower National Monument as the first executive site under the Antiquities Act, there were only 20 NPS areas versus 25 sites under Agriculture and Defense (War at that time) Departments.  Food for thought.  Future additions by me will continue the lines concept.  Chris Light (talk) 20:32, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Clean up
Okay, I've cleaned up the titles (mixed case). I'm still assembling much of the text, but have laid out the format, as I see it. Any specifics that would help make the article easier to follow?(Chris Light (talk) 18:55, 3 October 2008 (UTC))


 * Thanks for your excellent work cleaning up and expanding the article. I want to let you know though that there is no need to link dates (see MOS:SYL) or the same thing over and over (see WP:OVERLINK). In fact, these superfluous links just add clutter to the article, so they are discouraged by the Manual of Style. Keep up the great work. Ground Zero | t 16:10, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Trump years?
Should there be a new section titled "5.11 Trump years (2017-present)"? I may be guilty of recentism, but it seems like there is at least enough with the current government shutdown to warrant such an update. This, for example, could be used as one source.Pistongrinder (talk) 16:47, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
 * There have also been a few new park units so that would be welcome. Reywas92Talk 19:41, 25 January 2019 (UTC)