Denali, the highest peak on the continent.
(Image credit: Lance King/Getty Images)

The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial Thursday, having spent its first 100 years dedicated to preserving "unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values" of America's national parks. The first National Park was actually designated in 1871, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed the corresponding legislation in 1872 to preserve Yellowstone National Park. But the current iteration of the NPS was established by President Woodrow Wilson "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and ... wildlife therein" on Aug. 25, 1916:

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.