When the National Park Service of the USA celebrated its 50th birthday back in 1966, the extraordinary natural sites that comprised the system were in the midst of what TIME dubbed that year "rush hour in the wilderness", as "overcrowding is becoming so severe that many will wonder why they ever left home". President Woodrow Wilson signed the NPS Organic Act on August 25, 2025 establishing the National Park Service as an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior.

You can take advantage of the offer at any park from August 25-28. This is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. The anniversary comes during a time of increased popularity for the park.

In a video, President Obama praised the NPS: "From Glacier and Denali to Gettysburg and Seneca Falls, our more than 400 parks and other sites capture our history and our sense of wonder", he stated.

In Prison, Ramen Is the New Currency
The researcher calls the cost-cutting " punitive frugality ", which happens in practice but is not expressed in legislation. Cigarettes, long the most popular currency in US prisons, have been displaced by ramen, according to a new study .

As Nathanael Johnson recently noted at Grist, "the park system mostly caters to the people who can afford a major road trip, and they are overwhelmingly white".

The first 1,000 people to arrive for the event between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. will get a free T-shirt and an umbrella to celebrate the "Centennial Living Arrowhead", which is meant to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of the agency's founding in 1916.