H.R. 15522, An Act to establish a National Park Service, engrossed August 5, 1916
On May 10, 1916, Representative William Kent introduced H.R. 15522 to establish a National Park Service. President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill into law on August 25, 1916. The legislation "created in the Department of the Interior a service to be called the National Park Service." It stated that the National Park Service (NPS) "shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations...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." Today, the National Park Service employs over 20,000 people to care for its 410 parks. In 2015, 307.2 million people visited a national park.
H.R. 15522, An Act to establish a National Park Service, engrossed August 5, 1916; Records of the U.S. Senate; RG 46.