Dates

1930s-1960s
 

Context

What was Mission 66?

Mission 66 was a response to the growing disrepair of the National Parks due to growing visitation and an ever-shrinking budget.  By 1955, visitation to the parks had grown to 50 million people, more than twice the amount in 1946.  Prior to Mission 66, funds were approved on a case-by-case basis for improvement projects in the National Parks Service.  This created a system that prioritized patch jobs over complete solutions.  Mission 66 was a 10 year project to completely overhaul the National Park System and improve and solve problems as a whole.  Some of the improvements to the National Park Service included employee training and housing, trail and road maintenance, and building visitor centers, one of which is the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Mission 66 was also a way to facilitate the visitor experience.  This can be seen in the visitor centers built at the National Parks.

Media for this section: Visitation Growth Graph.PNG

Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration

To understand Mission 66, one must understand the programs that came before; it started in the Roosevelt Administration of the 1930s.  President Roosevelt, in an effort to stimulate the economy and decrease national unemployment, created the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.  Some of the projects these programs completed were aimed at improving the National Park System, including building roads, entrance stations, and campgrounds.

Media for this section: CCC Road Construction.jpg

National Park Service before Mission 66

Before the commencement of Mission 66, the National Park Service was responsible for protecting and maintaining for public consumption 178 parks, memorials, and other units.  This amounted to approximately 24 million acres of territory throughout the United States under control of the National Park Service by 1956.  Visitation to the parks was occurring in numbers never before seen.  With a shrinking budget, growing acreage, and increased visitation, the National Park Service was unable to adequately maintain and protect the units under their direction.  The parks fell into disrepair and it became dangerous for visitors to move through the parks.  To solve this problem, Conrad Wirth, the director of the National Park Service, directed a small committee to find a solution.  Mission 66 was conceived, proposed, and accepted in 1956.

Media for this section: Acreage Growth Graph.PNG

National Park Service Budget Problems

World War II severely impacted the National Park Service.  The projects being completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration were gradually defunded and eventually stopped altogether.  With funds needed elsewhere, the budget stagnated.  By the time World War II and the Cold War were over, the budget for the National Park Service had not changed much in over 10 years.  Adjusted for inflation, the budget was lower in the 1940s and 1950s than it was in the 1930s.  With units continually added to the National Park Service, the budget was strained to the point where it was impossible to maintain the parks and units properly.  Additionally, the Truman Administration favored allocating funds towards projects that built dams and promoted economic growth rather than the conservation of the parks.

Mission 66 Budget

Director Conrad Wirth proposed a budget of $786 million for the 10 year project to be used for land acquisition, road and trail improvements, and employee training and housing.  By the end of the program in 1966, $985 million had been spent.  Each year Congress had to approve the funds for the program, meaning Mission 66 was continually under threat of being shut down if the program did not deliver on its promises or if Congress no longer saw the value of the program.