From the rugged shores of Maine to the active volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands, the stunning
variety of majestic national parks in the United States "embody and symbolize our rich
national heritage and have inspired the creation of protected areas around the world.
Preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2016, the U.S. National Park Service
("NPS") has grown from its famous inaugural parks to over 390 parks system units nationwide,
today covering 83 million acres. The American national park system has much to offer to other
countries seeking to create a unified system of parks, but it also has much to learn from an
increasingly rich international definition of "national park" Yet, the U.S. national parks
risk a steady erosion of their unique, world-class resource values in the next century unless
a stronger policy is implemented that gives priority to the places that must be preserved for
generations over the people who are currently here to enjoy them. Despite the classic image of
U.S. national parks as unpopulated jewels of American wilderness, the parks have long been
subjected to a continuous stream of anthropogenic influences, from throngs of adoring visitors
who seek an increasingly commercialized park experience, to an amazing range of avid recreational
sports enthusiasts an their sometimes destructive gear. As many commentators have noted, the 1916
Organic Act that created the park system is itself a key reason why this conflicts seems to
continue unabated. The Act deliberately embodies a conflicting "dual mandate" that requires
the National Park Service constantly to juggle the demands of resource conservation versus
human use. Although for many decades the well-regarded NPS usually has given conservation a
higher priority, the pendulum of national politics has swung back and forth from the traditional
conservation approach to a "users first" philosophy, especially in the last eight years.