NATIONAL PARK SERVICE THAT THE PAST SHALL LIVE... the history program of the National Park Service

THE National Park System is made up of a group of areas, some 180 in all, which, taken together, tell the story of this nation and this continent from their beginnings.

It is the duty and responsibility of the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior to see that this System is fully protected, to insure its use and enjoyment by the people of today and tomorrow.

Few people, I am sure, realize that more than two-thirds of the areas in the National Park System are set aside for their historic or prehistoric importance. Probably only an equally small percentage is acquainted with the fact that the National Park Service is the Federal agency charged with the primary responsibility for the preservation of America's historic sites and buildings.

We hope that this booklet will make you who own them better acquainted with the richness and the variety of the historic and prehistoric properties administered by the Federal Government, and with the historical program of the National Park Service.

We want you to know our objectives in administering these areas and the policies which guide our work. We want to show you some of the important things which are being done in the areas of the National Park System to make history more real and meaningful. And we want to show you how MISSION 66, the 10-year program to improve the National Parks, has made it possible for the first time to execute long-range plans on a scale large enough to overtake today's problems and to keep abreast of the developing needs of the future.

The preservation of America's heritage of historic sites and buildings is not a task which can be accomplished by the Federal Government alone. It must be a cooperative local, State, and national effort. Government agencies at all levels, private preservation organizations, and individual citizens all must do their part.

Chartered by Congress, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is undertaking on a national scale certain phases of historical conservation which could not as well be conducted by a government agency.

State historical societies, State park departments, and a host of State and local preservation groups are working—either with the National Trust or independently—toward the common goal.

To all such organizations, the National Park Service pledges its cooperation and support to the end that the nation's historical resources may be preserved and fully utilized as well-springs of that inspiration, courage, steadfastness, and love of country which our people need now and will need in the years to come.

CONRAD L. WIRTH
Director
National Park Service