4th National Park Service Director Newton B. Drury

August 20, 1940 - March 31, 1951

Newton B. Drury

Newton B. Drury declined appointment as director in 1933 but accepted the job in 1940. He was the first director without prior national park responsibilities but came with strong conservationist credentials, having served as executive secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League in California. During World War II he successfully resisted most demands for consumptive uses of park resources. Less eager than his predecessors to expand the park system, he opposed NPS involvement with areas he judged not to meet national park standards. Differences with Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman over Chapman's support for dams in Dinosaur National Monument contributed to Drury's resignation in 1951. He died in 1978.