On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act. The act protected 9 million acres from development and created the National Wilderness Preservation System that consists of more than 111 million acres today.
On August 10, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt used the power of the 1906 Antiquities Act to create Joshua Tree National Monument. Decades later, the trees received additional protection when the area was made into a national park.
On July 23, 1966, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park was established in Vincennes, Indiana. The park honors this Revolutionary War hero and his role in the expansion of the Northwest Territory.
On July 16, 1934, the first stamp in the National Parks Series was issued, honoring Yosemite National Park. The series was issued to raise awareness of America’s national parks, and was part of the Infamous Farley’s Follies…
On July 8, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson created Sieur de Monts National Monument, which later became Acadia National Park. The park is located on Maine’s Mount Desert Island, Isle Au Haut, on the Schoodic Peninsula.
On June 15, 1934, Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation establishing Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Home to some of the highest mountains in North America, the park is one of the most visited in the United States.
On June 10, 1967, the Gateway Arch opened in St. Louis, Missouri. A monument to America’s westward expansion, it’s the tallest arch in the world at 630 feet.
John Muir was born on April 21, 1838, in Dunbar, Scotland. Considered the “Father of the National Parks,” he dedicated most of his life to exploring wilderness and protecting it, most famously Yosemite Valley in California.
On April 8, 1975, an Act of Congress officially established Voyageurs National Park. The park preserves and commemorates the thousands of men who paddled their canoes through Canada and Minnesota with their bundles of furs. Not only did they help grow the economy of the area, but they encouraged settlement and opened pathways previously unknown to bring people to the northwest.