The National Park Service is created within the Department of the Interior. [54 U.S.C. §100301]

The Director of the National Park Service supervises, manages, and controls the National Park System [54 U.S.C. §100302], which includes any area of land and water administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director, for park, monument, historic, parkway, recreational, and other purposes. [54 U.S.C. §100501]

The purpose of the National Park System is to conserve its scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife, and leave it unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. [54 U.S.C. §100101(a)]

Congress reaffirms the purposes set out in 54 U.S.C. §100101(a), and states that management of System areas shall not be conducted in derogation of the purposes for which the System areas were established. [54 U.S.C. §100101(b)(2)]

The Secretary shall promulgate regulations as the Secretary deems proper for use and management of System areas. [54 U.S.C. §100751] The Secretary may sell or dispose of timber where the cutting of timber is necessary to control insects or disease or conserve the scenery or natural and historic objects in any System area. [54 U.S.C. §100753] The Secretary may grant privileges, leases, and permits for the use of land for the accommodation of visitors, but not so as to interfere with free access by the public to objects of interest. The Secretary may grant grazing privileges when in the Secretary’s judgment such use is not detrimental to the primary purpose for which a System area was created. [54 U.S.C. §102101]