<P> The Badlands Wilderness protects 64,144 acres (100.225 sq mi; 25,958 ha) of the park as a designated wilderness area and is the site of the reintroduction of the black - footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America . </P> <P> The South Unit, or Stronghold Unit, is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe and includes sites of 1890s Ghost Dances, a former United States Air Force bomb and gunnery range, and Red Shirt Table, the park's highest point at 3,340 feet (1,020 m). </P> <P> Authorized as Badlands National Monument on March 4, 1929, it was not established until January 25, 1939 . It was redesignated a national park on November 10, 1978 . </P> <P> Under the Mission 66 plan, the Ben Reifel Visitor Center was constructed for the monument in 1957--58 . The park also administers the nearby Minuteman Missile National Historic Site . </P>

When did the badlands become a national park