Northern Rockies
In order to better protect and represent the wondrous national parks of the Northern Rockies, including crown jewels such as Glacier National Park, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) opened a Northern Rockies Regional Office in 1999. Within two years, this office opened two field offices in Whitefish, Montana, near Glacier National Park and in Jackson, Wyoming, near Grand Teton National Park. We rounded out our field presence when our Bozeman, Montana-based Yellowstone Field Office was opened in the fall of 2004. The Northern Rockies Regional Office also works to protect the other 12 national park sites (monuments, battlefields, and historic sites) of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
NPCA's Centennial Campaign
When Congress created America's first national park—Yellowstone—in 1872, they set a standard of preservation for the rest of the world to follow. But today Yellowstone, Glacier, and many of our national parks are in trouble due to chronic funding shortfalls. On average, national parks operate with only two-thirds of the money needed to cover annual operating expenses. Budget shortfalls of more than $800 million annually have led to a shortage of rangers, neglected trails, and dirty and deteriorating visitor facilities. The backlog of maintenance and preservation needs exceeds several billion dollars.
The Northern Rockies Regional Office works locally to promote NPCA's Centennial Campaign and to make National Parks a National Priority. We are working to increase local and regional support for the National Park Centennial Act, which seeks to fully fund the maintenance needs of the parks as well as natural and cultural preservation projects by 2016—the 100th birthday of the National Park Service.
In 2005, the Northern Rockies Regional Office published World Class Assets: National Parks Yield Big Returns for Montana, a 10-page report documenting the value of Yellowstone and Glacier national parks to the state's economy. The report has been distributed widely and is available for download here.
To contact NRRO’s team:
Tim Stevens, Regional Director of NRRO
tstevens@npca.org
7 East Beall Street
Suite B
Bozeman, MT 59715
406.585.1380
fax: 406.585.1471
Click here for information on our Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier programs.
