William Kent was the lead House sponsor of the 1916 legislation creating the National Park Service.
Kent was a California representative and conservationist who helped advance the bill through the House of Representatives. His Senate counterpart was Utah senator Reed Smoot, whose companion legislation moved through the Senate.
Kent’s conservation record extended beyond the NPS bill. He and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, purchased land containing old-growth redwoods and later donated much of it for the creation of Muir Woods National Monument.
John E. Raker is a plausible mix-up because he had introduced earlier proposals for a national park agency. Kent, however, was identified as the lead House sponsor of the legislation that became law in 1916.