This is the first instance of park land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use by action of the U.S. federal government, and set a precedent for the 1872 creation of Yellowstone as the first national park.
=== Yosemite Grant ===Zaskrbljeni zaradi učinkov poslovnih interesov, so se ugledni državljani, vključno Galen Clark in senator John Conness, zavzeli za zaščito območja.