[Editor's note: The PSAs mentioned below are no longer available online. For NPCA's current PSA's click here.]

Washington, D.C. - Academy Award®-winner Richard Dreyfuss narrates a new public service campaign launched this week that encourages people to become involved on behalf of the nation’s troubled national parks by visiting the Web site of Americans for National Parks.
The campaign, which is targeting eight states and the District of Columbia, includes a 30-second radio PSA and a 30-second and a 10-second television PSA.

“We are thrilled to work with Mr. Dreyfuss,” said Americans for National Parks Campaign Director Jennifer Coken. “He is a brilliant actor and has generously given his time to help us engage the public in our effort to protect America’s national parks.”

Every year, insufficient funding compromises the National Park Service’s ability to support visitor services and education programs, and to protect park wildlife and cultural and historical treasures. “The problem stems in part from the public’s perception that national parks are well protected and in good shape, when in fact,” Coken said, “the national parks face severe challenges because of underfunding. The American public can encourage Congress and the administration to change all that.”

Americans for National Parks, a growing coalition of more than 250 nonprofit organizations, businesses, and tourism and trade associations, is hoping that the public service campaign will drive traffic to the group’s Web site, www.americansfornationalparks.org, where users can learn more about the needs of the national parks and become involved by participating in the National Parks Scrapbook, or writing to Congress, the president, or their local newspaper.

Richard Dreyfuss is named among Empire Magazine’s “Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.” He has won a Golden Globe® Award, an Academy Award for Best Actor, and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Festival. He also received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations in 1995 for his performance as an inspirational music teacher in “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”

Renowned actor Morgan Freeman recorded a radio PSA for the Americans for National Parks campaign in March 2002.