NPCA submitted the following positions to members of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks ahead of a hearing scheduled for July 21, 2026.
S. 1674 - Mammoth Cave National Park Boundary Adjustment Act: NPCA supports this legislation, which authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to acquire 551.14 acres for inclusion in Mammoth Cave National Park. This targeted boundary adjustment would help protect sensitive cave systems, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources connected to the park’s rich ecosystem. Protecting these lands will also help sustain the park’s strong tourism economy, directly supporting local businesses and communities throughout south-central Kentucky.
S. 2498 - National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act: NPCA opposes this bill as introduced which allows the NPS Director, under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, to extend some leases without opening the lease to bidding by other companies and without a timeframe of extension. NPS leases over 340 structures in parks throughout the National Park System for commercial, residential and non-profit uses that are consistent with the park’s purpose. Lease holders and parameters are determined through a competitive process to ensure businesses provide the best return on investment, great services for the public and strong conservation outcomes for the resources.
S. 2969 - A bill to amend title 54, United States Code, to provide that State law shall apply to the use of motor vehicles on roads within a System unit: NPCA opposes this bill, which would force National Park System units to adhere to the laws of the state in which the unit is located for any use of motor vehicles, including off-road vehicles (ORVs), on roads within that unit. If enacted, it would force federal land managers to disregard the scientifically backed best practices that govern road management within the park system and instead adopt laws that were crafted by a state without park enabling legislation, purpose or resource conservation in mind. This bill is especially concerning because it would allow for the expansion of ORVs on park lands without park-specific assessments or public engagement. There are substantial impacts of off-road vehicles, designed to travel at high speeds beyond designated roads that could result in impacts to a park’s resources including sensitive plants and wildlife and impact the overall visitor experience. This bill prioritizes motorized recreation over other visitor uses and experiences. ORVs being more present on park landscapes, especially in Utah and the greater Southwest, would have particularly significant impacts in places where the NPS has consistently prohibited off-road vehicle use. Currently, nearly all NPS units prohibit ORVs, with only a few exceptions permitted by specific legislation for some National Recreation Areas, National Seashores and National Lakeshores. Opening any NPS paved or dirt roads to ORV use would directly contradict NPS staff expertise and on-the-ground knowledge and would undermine the ability of park managers to uphold their conservation mandate as required by the NPS Organic Act.
S. 3501 - Calumet National Heritage Area Act: NPCA supports this legislation to establish the Calumet National Heritage Area stretching across Chicago’s Southeast Side and northwest Indiana. The region offers a striking blend of natural areas and manmade structures, from the globally rare black oak savannas and wetlands of Indiana Dunes National Park to planned worker communities like Marktown, and architectural treasures like the Greenstone Church in Chicago’s Pullman National Historical Park. This heritage area will introduce this region to a national audience and provide the framework and resources to better interpret, manage, and protect the resources and stories that define it.
S. 3524 - American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act: NPCA supports this legislation which would reauthorize the American Battlefield Protection Program’s (ABPP) grants program, expand financial support to study battlefields associated with the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and to ensure that the process of battlefield preservation includes consultation with local, state, and Tribal partners. This legislation will strengthen the ability of the ABPP to protect, study, and rehabilitate battlefields across the United States.
S. 3785 - North Rim and Kaibab National Forest Restoration Act and H.R. 5729 - North Rim Restoration Act: NPCA supports these bills to provide emergency authority to the National Park Service to efficiently rebuild facilities after the devastating Dragon Bravo Fire, which caused permanent damage to the Grand Canyon Lodge and surrounding buildings, including historic cabins, as well as other structures on the North Rim of the park. Rebuilding must be done in a way to preserve as much of the existing structures and salvageable materials as possible while taking care to match the historical nature in new construction and that it is done in an environmentally responsible manner. We look forward to working with the committee on reconciling the language differences between these two bills.
S. 3925 - Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Act: NPCA supports this legislation, which would establish a national park unit to commemorate the life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald and the impact of the Rosenwald Schools. In 1912, Julius Rosenwald used a portion of his vast personal fortune to support an initiative by Booker T. Washington to build schools for Black children in the segregated south. Rosenwald’s philanthropy forever changed the face of public education for African Americans providing them with opportunities to learn during a period of separate and unequal education. Mr. Rosenwald’s funding helped to build more than 5,300 schools in 15 southern states; a legacy that should be both commemorated and interpreted in our National Park System.
S. 4399 - Geese House Site Conveyance Act: The Geese House site is a geological feature of historical and cultural importance to Athabaskan people of Interior Alaska. NPCA believes it is appropriate for Doyon Corporation to take possession of that area to protect and manage the site. However, conveying land out of the National Park System is not a decision that should be taken lightly. We encourage the committee to thoroughly consider the acreage number to ensure it balances the future protection of the Geese House site and the ongoing management and protection of Denali National Park and Preserve, and to very carefully define limits on use to prevent this conveyance from being used as a precedent to transfer other lands out of the National Park System to other entities for commercial gain. For example, while this bill prohibits mining activities on the conveyed land, it does not make specific mention of additional extractive or damaging uses. The committee also has multiple bills in their jurisdiction that would further conservation and historic preservation across the park system and we encourage the committee to advance those bills as well.
S. 4767 - Renewing the African American Civil Rights Network Act: NPCA supports this legislation to extend the authorization period for the African American Civil Rights Network (AACRN) which was established after a 2008 report issued by the NPS found that the agency should play a role in assisting the public with the documentation, interpretation, and preservation of civil rights history in the United States. Funding provided by AACRN supports the development of National Historic Landmark and Register nominations, oral history projects, the digitization of archival materials, and the launching and completion of cemetery and archeological surveys and studies.
