Frederick Law Olmsted

1822-1903

Olmsted is most famous as the designer of New York City's Central Park.
- He later was appointed the chairman of the state commission for Yosemite, directing the survey and taking charge of the property for the state of California. He warned as early as 1865 that the goal of management of Yosemite should be "the preservation and maintenance as exactly as is possible of the natural scenery."
The other members of the Yosemite park commission saw to it that the report Olmsted wrote never reached the state legislature. Not until 1952 was this most important document finally discovered and published for the first time. Alfred Runte has said "Of all the might-have-beens in national park history, the suppression of Olmsted's report was among the most significant." His recommendations were, however, used in support of the National Park Service by his son, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., in 1916.