When we visit national park sites, we step into the stories that define us: the landscapes we’ve cherished, the battles we’ve fought and the moments that have shaped our history.

What makes them so incredible to visit is what makes them so important to protect.

But today, they face serious threats, from encroaching development and neglect to a changing climate.

How we treat these places will be America’s legacy — as well as our own.

The depth and complexity of the American landscape and its history touch every one of us. From the continent’s bedrock to endangered species and habitats, from precolonial origins to the struggle for civil rights, our national parklands preserve and protect many core elements of this country.

Our National Park System, with more than 400 sites spread across every state and nearly every territory, includes national monuments and memorials, battlefields and military parks, historic sites, preserves and reserves, lakeshores and seashores, recreation areas, wild and scenic riverways and other protected places.

For 100 years, National Parks Conservation Association has been working to protect these places.

Today, we are ready as ever to protect them for 100 more. Are you?

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Activating this link will open a larger version of the image in the same window for a more detailed viewing.
Activating this link will open a larger version of the image in the same window for a more detailed viewing.
Activating this link will open a larger version of the image in the same window for a more detailed viewing.

Problem

Today, our parks face immediate threats to their air, land, water and wildlife

Solution

We must fight threats to ensure that our national parks thrive for the next 100 years

Problem

Today, many Americans do not feel connected to parks.

Solution

We must work toward a park system that tells the stories of all Americans.

Problem

Today, our parks are not enough of a priority, and years of chronic underfunding has diminished the park experience.

Solution

We must build the strongest, most diverse and engaged generation of park advocates in history.

$250 Million
Campaign Goal Over 5 Years
Over the last century, working with partners, lawmakers and communities across the country, NPCA has led the fight to protect and enhance our national parks. Here are some of our proudest victories:

To protect our national parks is to protect the democratic ideal. They reflect who we are and the values we hold. National parks exist as they do today, for all of us to experience, because of those who came before us. They stood up for parks when it mattered most. And now it’s our turn to answer the call, for all who experience them now and for those who will come long after us.

Theresa Pierno, President & CEO, National Parks Conservation Association


Key Actions

  • Support Wildlife

    including nearly 600 threatened and endangered species in our parks, by protecting and expanding millions of acres of essential habitat and supporting the reintroduction of keystone species such as grizzly bears and wolves

  • Ensure cleaner water in our parks

    Rivers, estuaries and lakes that are threatened by pollution, exotic species and development, restoring major watersheds in and around parks to bring them back to life

  • Expand protection

    for cultural and historic treasures, including irreplaceable landscapes, buildings, art and artifacts that are vulnerable to looting and development

  • Advocate for reduced air pollution

    and work to ensure parks are sustainable and prepared to confront the mounting challenges of climate change

  • Stop drilling and mining in and around national parks

    by enforcing park protection laws, building community support for conservation of park land-scapes, and advancing policies that buffer parks from adjacent development

  • Advance park protection for the next century of challenges

    from overcrowding to losing native species to deteriorating historical structures, by creating new ecological and social science tools and developing expertise to protect the integrity of wilderness and sacred cultural sites

More to Explore

Make a tax-deductible gift today to provide a brighter future for our national parks and the millions of Americans who enjoy them.

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