Protecting Parks from the Worst Threats They Face

NPCA fights to protect our national parks and their climate, air, lands, wildlife and water. We hold polluters and the government accountable to the laws and policies that protect our national parks.

What We Are Doing

  • Promoting nature-based solutions

    such as wetlands and other green infrastructure to filter pollutants and provide flood and storm protection.

  • Creating and expanding protected freshwater and marine areas

    to better adapt to warming temperatures and rising waters.

  • Advocating for policies and rules to achieve a clean, just transition

    that phases out greenhouse gas pollution from the energy and transportation sectors.

  • Pushing to phase out fossil fuel development on public lands

    and within adjacent communities to help reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

  • Protecting and connecting habitat where wildlife live and migrate

    between national parks and adjacent lands to help populations adapt and survive in changing landscapes.

  • Securing investments

    that help make national park infrastructure, natural and cultural resources, and park communities more resilient in the face of rising seas and extreme weather.

  • Backing science-based management practices and experts

    that protect parks and communities from increasing and intensifying wildfires, droughts and storms to manage natural, cultural and historic park assets to withstand higher temperatures.

  • Increasing land conservation in national park landscapes

    to safeguard biodiversity, prevent habitat loss and sequester carbon.

  • Reducing emissions from coal plants, oil and gas development and other industrial polluters of park skies

    to restore clean air and a healthy climate.

  • Defending and enforcing environmental laws

    to ensure harms to our communities, air, lands, water, wildlife and climate are known, assessed and mitigated.

  • Working for national parks to be models of best climate policies and practices

    with green transportation and infrastructure and sustainable operations. 

We also work around the country and on Capitol Hill to protect specific parks from harm.

  • Everglades National Park

    We are restoring the flow of fresh water south into three national park sites to combat rising sea levels, improving drinking water for communities, and helping the park’s unique ecosystems and wildlife thrive.

  • Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and others

    Working alongside Tribal partners we prevent the development of fossil fuels near parks and fight new oil exploration and drilling, taking legal action when necessary.

  • Indiana Dunes and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshores

    NPCA leads a coalition of more than 160 groups that has successfully delivered more than $2.5 billion dollars in federal funding to the national parks of the Great Lakes region to protect the wetlands that absorb flood waters and reduce storm damage.

  • Glacier National Park

    NPCA is working to protect the iconic grizzly bears of the Northern Rockies as they face the threats climate change poses to their habitat, food sources and genetic health.

  • Big Thicket National Preserve

    For more than a decade, NPCA has led volunteer efforts to plant more than 190,000 native longleaf pine trees in the preserve, conserving thousands of acres that can make the park and its wildlife more resilient to extreme weather and provide flood mitigation benefits to neighboring communities.

  • Gateway National Recreation Area

    We’ve helped secure investments in green infrastructure such as wetlands and natural buffer zones that restore native plants, improve wildlife habitat and protect nearby communities from storm surges.

  • Rocky Mountain National Park

    Our work has resulted in fewer greenhouse gases, clearer skies and healthier ecosystems by securing significant reductions in pollution from power plants and other industrial emitters around the Rocky Mountains.

These are just a few examples of NPCA’s work to protect parks. Join our community of supporters and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with our latest work and ways to take action.

Parks and Climate Change

Learn More