Parks Go To War

View of McDonald Ranch Headquarters at White Sands National Monument from top of old well derrick (April 1945)

Photo courtesy of Los Alamos Photographic Laboratory

National parks were part of the war effort during WWII. In many parks, roads and facilities once crowded with tourists hosted military equipment and personnel. Because the government owned the land the national parks were seen as ideal locations for military training camps and airfields, Rest and Recreation (R&R) areas, coastal defense sites, and housing.

But at what cost? Throughout the war, National Park Service Director Newton B. Drury and his park superintendents and site managers were in a battle of their own. Drury was responsible for protecting the unique resources of national park sites "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." He had to find a balance between aiding the war effort and resisting the overwhelming demands for potentially destructive uses of park lands and facilities. Working with the U.S. military to provide appropriate areas for military use, Drury and his superintendents and site managers were able to save many parks' pristine landscapes and historic and natural resources from long term, and in some case irreversible, damage.

To learn more about the National Parks during World War II see “Far-Reaching Effects:” The United States Military and the National Parks during World War II by Janet McDonnell, former Bureau Historian of the National Park Service. Also the NPS article National Parks’ Homefront Battle: Protecting Parks During WWII. In addition most of the National Park Brochures for the 1940s are online on our historic brochures website.

The National Park Service also has park units that didn't exist during World War II, but were created as a direct result of the war. To learn more about these park units see our Visit WWII Parks webpage.