Bill O'Donnell

Your first link portends a problem. There are more than 63 national parks. There are around 400. All units of the national park system are equally national parks and equally important. The "designations" such as "National River", "National Battlefield", etc further describe the type of national park. A golden retriever is as much a dog as a sheep dog, the "retriever" is just a further descriptor. Cuyahoga Valley went from being a "National Recreation Area" to "National Park" with the stroke of a pen. Nothing changed at the park but the sign. A park called simply "National Park" in the name is not any more, or less than a park with a different descriptor.