252 OUR FEDERAL LANDS 



should do nothing an individual municipality or State 

 can do for itself, and we are competing in little 

 things, benumbing public spirit and thwarting local 

 pride of possession and development." 



Herbert Hoover has contributed to the govern- 

 mental expression of National Park standards a 

 phrase fast becoming famous. 



"My own thought," he said to the National Con- 

 ference on Outdoor Recreation in December 1925, 

 "is that the National Parks the parks within the 

 responsibility of the Federal Government should 

 be those of outstanding scientific and spiritual ap- 

 peal, those that are unique in their stimulation and 

 inspiration." 



"The national park system of the United 

 States," wrote Stephen T. Mather, Director of the 

 National Park Service, in November, 1927, "is 

 unique both in its scenic exhibits and in the exceed- 

 ingly high standards by which each candidate for 

 admission to the system is judged. As now consti- 

 tuted, it is made up of areas of incomparable scenic 

 grandeur. Each of the major national parks was 

 selected for parkhood because of some distinctive 

 feature, either scenic or prehistoric, which is of na- 

 tional importance and interest. Under the policy 

 governing the establishment of national parks, only 

 one area of a particular type is considered for inclu- 

 sion in the system, and each area selected must rep- 

 resent the highest example of its particular type. 



"The scenic supremacy of an area alone is not 

 sufficient to gain it admission into the national park 



