The National Park Service (NPS) was formed on August 25, 1916, and is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. The National Park Service publishes various reports and documents each year about environmental issues, park safety, and specific parks around the country. These publications include titles like: Vegetation of Shark Slough, Everglades National Park, Status of Woody Species in Big Cyprus National Preserve, and The Nest Environment of the American Crocodile.

The NPS Natural Resource Challenge-an action plan to advance the management and protection of park resources-has focused efforts to inventory the natural resources of parks. A geologic inventory was administered by the Geologic Resources Division through the Geologic Resource Evaluation (GRE) Program. The goal was to provide a digital geologic map, a geologic evaluation report, and a geologic bibliography of Rocky Mountain National Park.