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National Parks in the United States are considered the premier classification of protected areas of the United States. Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the world — in 1872, there was no state government to manage it, so the federal government assumed direct control. Yosemite National Park began as a state park; the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the State of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership.

National parks are considered national treasures of the United States.

At first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the civilian staff was replaced by the U.S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Tyng Mather petitioned the federal government to improve the situation. In response they tasked him with leading a new agency, the National Park Service, in 1916, to manage all national parks. Later the agency was given authority over other protected areas with varying designations.

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