New Opportunities for Our Parks

Dear National Park Protectors,

The next Congress will look very different with many new park champions! In fact, this is the biggest change in the America’s congressional representation in modern history. Every new seat represents a fresh opportunity to elevate our public lands and inspire the next wave of champions that our national parks so desperately need.

The past two years have tested our parks like few times in our history. From expanding oil and gas leasing to gutting the Endangered Species Act and scarring fragile ecosystems, the current administration has relentlessly attacked and undermined some of our nation’s most treasured places. And to make matters worse, since January 2025 the National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent staff due to terminations and pressured resignations. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are the trail crews, rangers, maintenance staff, wildlife experts and visitor service staff who keep us safe and our parks thriving.

But time and time again, we’ve shown that our voices matter, and every action makes a difference. Together, with the help of park advocates across the country we fought off the largest proposed cut in the Park Service’s history, defeated an effort to sell off millions of acres of public lands, helped block a massive data center complex on the doorstep of Manassas National Battlefield and won a court order halting new mining inside Mojave National Preserve. When bulldozers rolled into Big Bend, your outcry helped win a pause in this destruction, and a federal court has since blocked construction. And when Major League Baseball floated a game inside Grand Teton, park lovers made clear our national parks are not a sports venue, and the league dropped the idea.

NPCA’s track record proves we’re fighting every single day alongside you for these places we all love, and now we can do even more to protect them. With this new pro-park congress comes new opportunity to safeguard America’s parks and prepare for better days ahead.

Our national parks are a powerful reminder of what unites us as a nation. As our country marks its 250th anniversary this year, there is no better moment to honor our history and culture than by recommitting to the places that define us. Our national parks belong to all of us. Let’s keep standing together to protect them.