Alva Review-Courier -

As we saw last week, the United States created its first national park – Yellowstone – in 1872. In the 1890s the government established three more national parks to assist the country’s growing tourism industry.

All of the first four national parks were located in the American West, as much of that region had beautiful topography that many people believed was not conducive to any economic pursuits other than tourism.

The rise in western tourism coincided with a flurry of railroad building largely financed by the U.S. government. People who had moved to the West wanted manufactured goods shipped to them from the eastern part of the country.

Likewise, Americans in the eastern states wanted western lumber, minerals, and agricultural products. Wealthy easterners also wanted to vacation in the West to see what that rugged part of the country looked like.

The government gave away or sold much of the lands in the American West to individuals and corporations, but officials eventually decided to retain vast areas of the region and keep it in the so-called “public domain” – owned by the American people.

Much of the public domain land was set aside for national forests (where trees could be harvested) or was leased to farmers and ranchers. The lands that became national parks were supposed to be “preserved” in a state of nature.

As time passed, the U.S. government worked to aid the tourism industry by building roads to allow people to see the parks’ wonders without having to hike for miles. In 1916, the government created the National Park Service (NPS) to manage and oversee the parks.

Over the years, other properties – like national monuments, military parks and national memorials – have been added to the facilities under the care of the NPS.

The NPS is an agency of the Department of the Interior. It efforts to preserve and protect national treasures has generally been supported by leaders of both major political parties.

Today, the United States has 63 national parks; 48 of them (76 percent) are west of the Mississippi River.