The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.blank">http://www.nps.gov/legacy/nomenclature.html It was created on August 25, 1916, by _Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act (16 United States Code, sections 1,2,3 and 4) in order to ...conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. It is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, which is in turn a Cabinet Office of the executive branch, overseen by a Secretary nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Most of the direct management of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary to the National Park Service Director, who must now also be confirmed by the Senate.
The NPS oversees units, of which 58 are designated national parks. Among the other unit designations are:
Not all NPS properties are considered to be distinct units. For example, Ellis Island Immigration Museum is not an independent NPS unit; it is a dependent area of Statue of Liberty National Monument which is one of the units. None of the cemeteries counts as a unit by itself. There is at least one National Park Service site in every state in the nation (and some territories), except Delaware.
