"We’re deeply grateful for their enduring commitment and proud to stand beside them and to honor them...Together, we remain resolute in defending our nation’s cultural and natural heritage for current and future generations.” - Tiernan Sittenfeld, NPCA's President & CEO
WASHINGTON — The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) presented The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (CPANP) with the 2026 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award. The ceremony took place yesterday during NPCA’s Salute to the Parks event, part of the organization’s National Parks Advocacy Week. Hundreds of NPCA staff, members, supporters, partners, volunteers and congressional park champions attend this annual event in Washington, D.C. to help honor the people, places, and stories safeguarded by our national parks.
NPCA and CPANP maintain a longstanding partnership in national park and public lands advocacy and conservation. Last month, CPANP joined NPCA and others, represented by Democracy Forward, in filing a lawsuit to halt the administration’s efforts to erase history and censor science in America’s national parks. CPANP has also worked to shed light on the devastating effects of climate change on our national parks, fought against the rollback of critical environmental protections, and published critical data analysis in the wake of deep park service staffing cuts.
“We applaud the staff and members of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks who answered the call to serve the mission of the Park Service and protect our most treasured places,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, President & CEO of NPCA. “This calling has never been so critical as it is now, as we’re in the fight of our lives protecting our national parks. We’re deeply grateful for their enduring commitment and proud to stand beside them and to honor them with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award. Together, we remain resolute in defending our nation’s cultural and natural heritage for current and future generations.”
Founded in 2002, CPANP is a nonprofit organization composed of more than 5,000 current and former National Park Service employees and volunteers. With more than 50,000 years of combined experience, CPANP lends its expertise to the protection of our national parks through grassroots advocacy, litigation, and rulemaking oversight and accountability.
“As lifelong stewards of our national parks, we’re honored to receive this award from one of our closest allies,” said Emily Thompson, Executive Director of The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. “Our national parks face a watershed moment, and failing to hold leaders accountable for protecting our national park sites risks irreversible harm. That’s why we’re proud to continue advocating for the conservation of our scenic landscapes, the preservation of our nation’s cultural and heritage sites, and the honest interpretation of our nation’s history.”
The organization was founded more than two decades ago as the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees to fill a need for frontline experts in the national parks advocacy landscape. Within 18 months of founding, CPANP membership grew past 360 members while the organization broadened its advocacy work into energy development, NPS budget and personnel adequacy, air quality, and other areas. Today, CPANP remains a fierce defender of our national park sites and the NPS staff and volunteers that steward these national treasures.
“Like Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s unwavering support for our national parks, CPANP and our incredible group of park protectors is proud to carry on that same mission today,” said Cheryl Schreier, Chair of The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. “We look forward to our continued work with NPCA to speak out for our parks, the people who care for them, the stories and history they hold, and the future generations who deserve to experience them.
Established in 1986, NPCA’s annual Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award honors the spirit of fierce advocacy and protection of our national parks modeled by its namesake, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, an ardent champion for Everglades National Park. The award recognizes the outstanding efforts of an individual or group resulting in the protection of a national park or proposed site in the National Park System.
For more information on The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, visit their website at www.protectnps.org.
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About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.9 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.
