Baxter was to continue to attempt to add property to the parkoften running into opposition from those who did not want to sell or making temporary trade offs to allow continued timber operations before the land acquisition was completed. Baxter, saying he did not trust the federal government, resisted efforts to turn the park into a national park. He placed various restrictive covenants on the park so that today it is not actually part of the Department of Conservation, the body that administers the state's other parks. Rather it is administered by the Baxter State Park Authority.