World War II: Defending Park Values and Resources

Abstract This article focuses on the way in which the National Park Service (NPS) resisted demands for the consumptive use of park resources during World War II primarily through the use of carefully crafted arguments and powerful rhetoric, but also by enlisting the support of conservation groups and adopting compromise measures. These compromise measures allowed the military to use the parks for recreation, rehabilitation, training, and maneuvers, and in a few instances authorize some exploitive use of parks by timber, mining, and farming interests when necessary. Faced with wartime demands, the NPS was forced to articulate its purpose and mission as never before. As NPS leaders articulated their arguments, they developed and publicized several major themes: that park values were a valuable resource; that the NPS had a trust responsibility to protect the parks; and that the parks represented the restorative and inspirational power of nature. Its vigorous campaign in defense of park values and resources, along with the willingness to compromise, played an important role in ensuring the preservation of irreplaceable park resources.