National Park Update

Viewing this on a mobile device? Click here to donate. Help us secure the protections our parks need to thrive in their second century. In just over a year, the National Park Service’s centennial will shine a spotlight on all of our national parks. And it should be a time for celebrating. But we all could be in for a shock if we don’t act now. Because if things don’t change fast, America’s national parks will be in a sorry state—with closed trails and visitor centers, cancelled programs, and Park Service staff unable to properly maintain the parks due to severe budget cuts. The countdown to the parks’ centennial is on in earnest and NPCA needs your support to press ahead with all of our work. We know there will be many battles to face ahead as we fight to secure proper funding and protect the parks from a host of outside threats. Members and supporters of NPCA have done their part to safeguard America’s national parks for almost as long as the National Park Service itself. But as we prepare for NPCA’s 96th year—and the National Park Service’s 100th—our work takes on an even greater sense of urgency. Because what we do between now and the end of next year will help determine if our national parks are well maintained, safe, and poised for a vibrant second century … or if they are further neglected, polluted, and diminished. We know the stakes are high, so we’re working diligently to: Protect national parks against crippling budget cuts and other man-made threats to their vitality and very existence. Connect more Americans to the wonders—natural, cultural, and historic—of the national parks they own. Restore parks to their full glory—sustaining them as safe havens for wildlife and a welcoming place of inspiration for visitors from the United States and around the world. NPCA started this year on a hopeful note by helping to forge a compromise that restored nearly all of the park funding lost through the sequester cuts of 2013. We also built bipartisan support in the Senate for an appropriations bill that would address the parks’ maintenance backlog and reduce development threats within the borders of national parks. But to protect our parks next year, we must build on these successes. Budget battles will intensify early in 2015 as the Obama administration submits its funding priorities and a new session of Congress begins. To avert a future government shutdown and the economic devastation it would cause … to ensure that our parks are places of celebration for the centennial … we must step up the pressure on lawmakers to heed the overwhelming public demand for adequate park funding. And while we rightly focus on the National Park Service’s rapidly approaching centennial, it is also important for us to think about the enduring national parks legacy we will leave to our children and theirs. Will your parks legacy be one of closed parks, crumbling monuments, and extinct species … or will it feature thriving wildlife populations, crystal-clear mountain streams, and endless inspiration? Please support NPCA’s work today so together we can create the brighter future for our national parks that we all want. Sincerely, Clark Bunting President & CEO P.S. The national parks’ centennial will be here in just 14 months, giving us precious little time to fix all the problems our parks face. Please help make America’s national parks places we can all take pride in by making a generous gift today. Thank you! Prefer to help by mail? Please enclose this PDF donation form with your gift. Photo: Glacier National Park © Kan1234/Dreamstime..

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