FORMER
NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM UNITS: AN ANALYSIS
Barry
Mackintosh 1995
Between
1930 and 1994, 23 units of the National Park System were transferred from
National Park Service administration to other custody. (Not included in
this number are areas authorized but never established as park system
units, such as Georgia O'Keeffe National Historic Site and Zuni-Cibola
National Historical Park.) These former units, in order of their divestiture
from the system, are as follows:
Papago
Saguaro National Monument, Arizona: Established by presidential proclamation
Jan. 31, 1914; transferred to state of Arizona by act of Congress Apr.
7, 1930.
Sullys
Hill National Park, North Dakota: Established by act of Congress Apr.
27, 1904; transferred to U.S. Dept. of Agriculture by act of Congress
Mar. 3, 1931.
Lewis
and Clark Cavern National Monument, Montana: Established by presidential
proclamation May 11, 1908; transferred to state of Montana by act of Congress
Aug. 24, 1937.
Chattanooga
National Cemetery, Tennessee: Established under War Department by
Army general order Dec. 25, 1863; transferred to NPS by presidential executive
order effective Aug. 10, 1933; returned to War Department by act of Congress
Dec. 7, 1944.
Shasta
Lake Recreation Area, California: NPS administration arranged by agreement
with Bureau of Reclamation May 22, 1945; transferred to Forest Service
by act of Congress effective July 1, 1948.
Lake
Texoma Recreation Area, Texas-Oklahoma: NPS administration arranged
by agreement with Corps of Engineers Apr. 18, 1946; returned to Corps
of Engineers by termination of agreement June 30, 1949.
Father
Millet Cross National Monument, New York: Established under War Department
by presidential proclamation Sept. 5, 1925; transferred to NPS by presidential
executive order effective Aug. 10, 1933; transferred to state of New York
by act of Congress Sept.7, 1949.
Wheeler
National Monument, Colorado: Established under Forest Service by presidential
proclamation Dec. 7, 1908; transferred to NPS by presidential executive
order effective Aug. 10, 1933; returned to Forest Service by act of Congress
Aug.3, 1950.
Holy
Cross National Monument, Colorado: Established under Forest Service
by presidential proclamation May 11, 1929; transferred to NPS by presidential
executive order effective Aug. 10, 1933; returned to Forest Service by
act of Congress Aug.3, 1950.
New
Echota Marker, Georgia: Authorized under War Department by act of
Congress May 28, 1930; transferred to NPS by presidential executive order
effective Aug. 10, 1933; transferred to state of Georgia by act of Congress
Sept.21, 1950.
Atlanta
Campaign National Historic Site, Georgia: Established by Secretary
of the Interior's order Oct. 13, 1944; transferred to state of Georgia
by act of Congress Sept.21, 1950.
Shoshone
Cavern National Monument, Wyoming: Established by presidential proclamation
Sept. 21, 1909; transferred to Cody, Wyoming, by act of Congress May 17,
1954.
Old Kasaan
National Monument, Alaska: Established by presidential proclamation
Oct. 25, 1916; transferred to Forest Service by act of Congress July 26,
1955.
Castle
Pinckney National Monument, South Carolina: Established under War
Department by presidential proclamation Oct. 15, 1924; transferred to
NPS by presidential executive order effective Aug.10, 1933; transferred
to state of South Carolina following act of Congress declaring property
surplus Mar. 29, 1956.
Verendrye
National Monument, North Dakota: Established by presidential proclamation
June 29, 1917; transferred to state of North Dakota by act of Congress
July 30, 1956.
Fossil
Cycad National Monument, South Dakota: Established by presidential
proclamation Oct. 21, 1922; transferred to Bureau of Land Management by
act of Congress Aug. 1, 1956.
Millerton
Lake Recreation Area, California: NPS administration arranged by agreement
with Bureau of Reclamation May 22, 1945; transferred to state of California
by lease agreement Nov. 1, 1957.
Flaming
Gorge Recreation Area, Utah-Wyoming: NPS administration arranged by
agreement with Bureau of Reclamation July 22, 1963; transferred to Forest
Service by act of Congress Oct. 1, 1968.
St. Thomas
National Historic Site, Virgin Islands: Established by Secretary of
the Interior's order Dec. 24, 1960; transferred to Virgin Islands government
by act of Congress Feb. 5, 1975.
Shadow
Mountain Recreation Area, Colorado: NPS administration arranged by
agreement with Bureau of Reclamation June 27, 1952; transferred to Forest
Service by act of Congress effective Mar.1, 1979.
Mar-A-Lago
National Historic Site, Florida: Designated by Secretary of the Interior's
order Jan. 16, 1969; NPS administration authorized by act of Congress
Oct.21, 1972; returned to Post Foundation by act of Congress Dec.23, 1980.
National
Visitor Center, Washington, DC: Authorized by act of Congress Mar.
12, 1968; transferred to Department of Transportation by act of Congress
Dec. 29, 1981.
John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC: NPS administration
authorized by act of Congress June 16, 1972; transferred to Kennedy Center
Trustees by act of Congress July 21, 1994.
The NPS
had a visible staff presence at only eight of the 23 areas. Five of these
were reservoir recreation areas--Flaming Gorge, Shasta Lake, Lake Texoma,
Millerton Lake, and Shadow Mountain--where NPS involvement resulted from
agreements with the Bureau of Reclamation or the Corps of Engineers rather
than specific acts of Congress. Because Congress had not mandated NPS
involvement and because the NPS was not deeply committed to reservoir
recreation management, the bureau willingly relinquished these areas to
other agencies willing to accept them. Three of them went to the Forest
Service because it already administered the surrounding lands and could
more efficiently manage the reservoir recreation facilities.
The sixth
area that the NPS actively managed was Chattanooga National Cemetery.
Inherited from the War Department in 1933 together with Chickamauga and
Chattanooga National Military Park, the cemetery was returned to that
department in 1944 because it was physically removed from the park and
was still used for burials.
The two
other areas with a visible NPS presence were the National Visitor Center
and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington,
DC--both atypical park units. In the first case, Congress determined that
the visitor center concept had failed and that Washington's Union Station
could better be redeveloped privately under Department of Transportation
auspices. In the second case, Congress decided that the organization responsible
for the center's performing arts functions could also assume the Service's
responsibility for managing the building.
Most of
the other 15 areas were transferred because their significance was marginal
and/or they did not lend themselves well to park development and use.
Two national monuments inherited from the War Department in 1933 exemplified
both shortcomings: Castle Pinckney paled in comparison with another island
fortification in Charleston Harbor, Fort Sumter; and Father Millet Cross
featured only a stone cross erected by the Knights of Columbus in 1926.
Verendrye National Monument was found to have no historical connection
with the French explorer for whom it was named. Fossil Cycad National
Monument later disclosed few of the fossils for which it had been proclaimed.
Old Kasaan National Monument was inaccessible to the public, and the totem
poles that were its primary feature were ultimately removed to a museum.
Sullys Hill National Park lacked notable natural qualities worthy of its
designation and became a game preserve under the Agriculture Department.
The most recent divestiture before the Kennedy Center and National Visitor
Center, Mar-A-Lago National Historic Site, was never opened to the public
and could not be maintained with the endowment left by Marjorie Merriweather
Post for that purpose.
It is noteworthy
that six of the 23 areas--more than a quarter--had been established under
Agriculture or War department auspices before being transferred to the
NPS by executive order in 1933 and thus had not been subject to prior
NPS evaluation.
Except for
two of the reservoir areas, all of the areas were divested from the National
Park System by acts of Congress. The NPS normally took the initiative
in recommending the transfers and drafted the legislation.
The following
generalizations may be made about the 23 areas divested from the National
Park System:
ð Areas
in public use under NPS custody remained in public use with no significant
reductions in services under their new custodians.
ð Both the
NPS and the receiving parties supported the transfers.
ð There
was no significant public or political opposition to the transfers.
ð None of
the divested areas would meet current NPS standards for inclusion in the
National Park System.
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