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The Official Units of the National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. As of August 2024, there are 433 official units of the National Park System ; [ 1 ] however, this number can be misleading.
The total area protected by national parks is approximately 52.4 million acres (212,000 km 2), for an average of 833 thousand acres (3,370 km 2) but a median of only 220 thousand acres (890 km 2). [8] The national parks set a visitation record in 2021, with more than 92 million visitors. [9]
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior.The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations.
The older National Capital Region was established January 22, 1962, from the National Capital Parks, District of Columbia-Virginia-Maryland. The National Capital Parks became units of the National Park Service on August 10, 1933 when federal parks under a variety of federal agencies were consolidated under the National Park Service, Department ...
The National Military Park line, including early battlefield monuments, began in 1781. Between 1890 and 1933 the War Department developed it into a National Military Park System. In 1933, there were twenty areas, 11 National Military Parks and 9 National Battlefield Sites.
National parks in the United States are created by United States Congress legislation as per the National Park Service Organic Act. [1] However, most parks are first proposed by members of the public, states, local entities, tribal nations, members of Congress, or even the National Park Service itself.
There are 63 officially designated national parks in the United States and its dependent areas, as of 2021. [2] The national parks are considered the "crown jewels" of the system and are typically larger than other areas, including a variety of significant ecological and geological resources.
Initially the Secretary of the Interior could designate national historic sites, though this did not include funding for acquition or administration without congressional action. [7] Salem Maritime National Historic Site was the first place to be preserved as a national historic site, created by Secretary Harold L. Ickes 's secretarial order on ...