How do new national parks get created?

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. read more

Every new national park must be created by an act of Congress (this requires a majority vote in both the House and Senate). Alternatives There are several alternatives to national parks for protecting land in the United States. read more

Additions to the National Park System are now generally made through acts of Congress, and national parks can be created only through such acts. But the President has authority, under the Antiquities Act of 1906, to proclaim national monuments on lands already under federal jurisdiction. read more

For some of the new national parks, the road ahead is extra-long. The World War I Memorial in Pershing Park in Washington, D.C. can’t be built until a design is chosen. Coltsville National Historical Park in Hartford, Connecticut, is dependent upon land acquisitions. read more