Bill Text: MI HR0263 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: A resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Passed) 2016-06-07 - Adopted [HR0263 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-HR0263-Enrolled.html
Reps. Darany, Canfield, Crawford, Howrylak, Kelly and LaVoy offered the following resolution:
House Resolution No. 263.
A resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.
Whereas, The National Park Service was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act. The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The role of the NPS is preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment; and
Whereas, Yellowstone National Park was named the first national park in the United States in 1872. Originally each national park was run under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. Determined to improve the current model of operations and management of the parks, conservationist Stephen Mather encouraged Congress to create an independent agency to manage the parks; and
Whereas, On August 25, 1916, the National Park Service Organic Act was ratified and signed by President Woodrow Wilson with the mandate that the agency “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Upon the creation of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather was named its first director; and
Whereas, On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933 into law, allowing the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the power granted to him by this bill to issue two executive orders at Deputy Director Horace M. Albright’s suggestion. These executive orders transferred all of the historic sites managed by the War Department, the national monuments managed by the Department of Agriculture, and the parks in and around the capital to the National Park Service; and
Whereas, In 1966, as the Park Service celebrated its 50th anniversary, the goal of the program shifted to do more than just preserve the nation’s beautiful land and scenery, but to also increase the accessibility of these historic areas to the public. Director George Hartzog began this process with the inclusion of the National Lakeshores and the National Recreation Areas into the National Park Service. As a result of this, the Pictured Rocks of Munising, Grand Marais, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire were able to be recognized as National Parks; and
Whereas, Michigan is home to 5 national parks, with over 1,900,000 visitors a year. These parks include Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore as listed above, as well as River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Isle Royale National Park, and Keweenaw National Historical Park. Home to such scenery as wildlife, waterfalls, forests, sand dunes, beaches, inland lakes, and islands, the Michigan National Parks are an essential quality of this great state; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body commemorate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.
