Search

• NPCA at Work Fragile Treasures Threatened in Chaco Culture National Historical Park The growing demand for oil and gas in northwestern New Mexico has the potential to impact the cultural and natural resources of Chaco Culture National Historical Park--including the quality of its world-renowned night skies. Flaring of natural gas and an increase in intensive artificial lighting from construction activities, vehicle traffic and operation of support facilities can all affect the quality of the night skies both at the park’s higher elevations and inside the historic canyon.
• Park Old Spanish National Historic Trail The Old Spanish Trail is a historic pack-mule trade route that winds through beautiful yet arduous terrain from Santa Fe to Los Angeles.
• NPCA at Work Support Storm Recovery Funding for the National Park Service Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria devastated communities. They also caused unprecedented damage to national parks. Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to repair these parks and protect the National Park Service budget, which is already underfunded and cannot absorb the huge cost of hurricane recovery.
• Report Center for State of the Parks: Big Bend National Park In this report, the National Parks Conservation Association incorporates findings from an assessment by its State of the Parks program to describe the current condition of Big Bend National Park’s natural and cultural resources and many of the stewardship challenges ahead.
• Blog Post Q&A: Do Visitors Really Need to Be Shut Out of National Parks During the Government Shutdown? Oct 2013 | By John Garder As we enter week two of the government shutdown, closed signs and barricades at national parks have become powerful symbols of the fiscal standoff’s impact on people around the country.
• Press Release National Parks Group Opposes Water Board's Approval to Drain the Desert Aug 2012 Statement by Seth Shteir, California Desert Field Representative, National Parks Conservation Association
• Blog Post 11 of the Quirkiest National Park Animals Mar 2014 | By Jennifer Errick While a few types of wildlife like bears, moose, and wolves capture the imagination of throngs of tourists, there are many rare, charming, and oddly adapted species in national parks that get far less attention. Here are 11 of the quirkiest, as picked by NPCA staff.
• Blog Post Visits to National Parks in 2015 Top 300 Million for the First Time Feb 2016 | By Jennifer Errick National parks saw their highest visitation ever in 2015, with more than 307 million recreational visits. This marks a nearly 5% increase from 2014.
• Blog Post National Parks Witnessed Record-Breaking Visitation in 2016 Feb 2017 | By Jennifer Errick The National Park Service releases new data showing more than 330 million visits during its centennial, up more than 7 percent from 2015
• Press Release National Parks Group Urge Secretary Salazar to Protect California's Only Marine Wilderness Area Nov 2012 Statement by Neal Desai, Pacific Region Associate Director, National Parks Conservation Association
• Policy Update Position on the impacts of COVID-19 and visitation to the National Park System May 2021 NPCA shared the following position with Senators on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee ahead of a hearing scheduled for May 26th, 2021. 
• Press Release 75 National Parks Featured in New Keepsake, See America Book Mar 2016 National Parks Conservation Association and the Creative Action Network announce a new keepsake book
• Blog Post Putting National Parks into the Debate Oct 2012 | By Kristen Brengel National parks matter to an overwhelming majority of Americans. They should matter to our political candidates, too.
• Press Release Groups Support Stronger Rules for Oil Drilling in National Parks Jan 2016 Long-Overdue Rules Govern Development of Privately-Held Mineral Rights beneath 42 National Park Units
• Press Release Drawing the Line: Final National Park Service Proposal Aims to Protect Alaska's Bears and Wolves Oct 2015 Statement by Joan Frankevich, Alaska Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association.
• Press Release New Colorado River Basin Study Provides Important Analysis, Misses Opportunity by Omitting National Parks Perspective Dec 2012 Statement by David Nimkin, Southwest Senior Regional Director, National Parks Conservation Association
• Press Release National Parks Group Supports Roundup of Illegal Cattle Grazing on Nevada's Public Lands Apr 2014 Statement by Lynn Davis, Senior Nevada Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association
• Blog Post 3 Reasons We're Excited About ‘Our Great National Parks’ Apr 2022 | By Vanessa Pius A new Netflix docuseries highlights the splendor of national parks around the world — with a familiar face as host.
• Press Release Feeling the Heat: Protecting Desert National Parks from Industrial Solar Sep 2012 National Parks Conservation Association Releases New Report, Video on Solar Development
• Press Release Public Interest Groups Tell EPA: Clean Up the Air in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Oct 2015 83 Groups Call for Improvements to Regional Haze Rule in Time for National Park Service’s 2016 Centennial
• Blog Post Do National Parks Matter to Millennials? May 2014 | By Josephine Hill Insights into some of the obstacles keeping university students from visiting national parks.
• Blog Post The Top 5 Myths about the Sequester and National Parks Mar 2013 | By John Garder NPCA has been warning the public for well over a year that the deep federal budget cuts known as the sequester would harm national parks. 
• Blog Post An Insiders’ Guide to Yellowstone National Park Jul 2018 Yellowstone: It’s one of the most remarkable and revered travel destinations in the world and the place that defined the very concept of public land conservation. Get a taste of why this park and the larger ecosystem that surrounds it are so special — and how to plan an extraordinary trip.
• Press Release Utah’s National Parks to Benefit from Innovative Oil and Gas Planning Effort May 2016 National Parks Group Commends ‘Smart-from-the-Start’ planning for oil and gas in the San Rafael Desert.
• Blog Post Funding Discussion Shares Creative Solutions for National Park Funding Woes Mar 2013 | By Tom Kiernan Make no doubt about it, the National Park Service is strapped for cash. Before grappling with the new federal mandate to cut 5 percent of its entire operating budget, the agency was already suffering from a funding shortfall in the hundreds of millions of dollars, had already taken a 15 percent cut in the last decade, and already has a staggering $12 billion maintenance backlog.
• Press Release Trump Administration Action Puts National Parks at Risk, Moves to Derail Clean Water Protections Jun 2017 Today, in a devastating blow to national parks and communities that depend on clean water, the Trump Administration calls for the repeal of the Clean Water Rule.
• Press Release EPA Declares Regions Exceeding Ozone Limits: Areas Include More than 95 National Parks May 2018 EPA unveils what national parks are in areas that are not meeting the new, more protective ozone limit.
• Blog Post The Easternmost National Park May 2020 | By Nicolas Brulliard Determining which national park site is the farthest east is surprisingly complicated.
• Press Release National Parks Conservation Association on the Passing of Former Senator Howard Baker Jun 2014 Statement by Craig Obey, Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association
• Press Release Tribal and National Parks Groups File Lawsuit to Defend Mojave Desert Sacred Lands, Wildlife and Water from Cadiz Mar 2021 Lawsuit challenges a fast-tracked decision in the final days of the Trump administration that threatens Mojave National Preserve and a deeply sacred cultural landscape for California Tribes.
• Press Release JustGreen™ Helps National Parks Conservation Association Offset their Carbon Footprint Apr 2014 "Promoting Green Travel to National Parks in the USA"
• Press Release National Parks Group Applauds Reauthorization of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Sep 2013 The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today applauds the leadership of U.S. Representative John Sarbanes (MD-3) for introducing a bill that will reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network.
• Policy Update National Parks Second Century Action Coalition Sep 2018 The National Parks Second Century Action Coalition is a national coalition dedicated to promoting the protection, restoration, and operation of the National Park System to benefit the health and well-being of current and future generations.
• Press Release Trump Administration Rollback of Environmental, Health and Safety Standards Puts Polluter Interests Ahead of the National Parks Oct 2017 Recommendations to eliminate or revise environmental, health, and safety standards favor the fossil fuel industry over clean air, water and the health of our national parks.
• Report Center for State of the Parks: Fort Pulaski National Monument Recognizing Fort Pulaski National Monument’s significance to our shared national heritage, NPCA’s Center for State of the Parks set out to determine the conditions of the cultural and natural resources protected within the park.
• Park Big Hole National Battlefield After spending the summer fleeing U.S. Army troops, a band of Nez Perce Indians set up camp in Montana's Big Hole Valley, unaware that nearby troops would soon intercept them. On August 9, 1877, the quiet dawn was pierced by the sound of U.S. Army gunfire and the screams of women and children, many of whom died instantly in their tipis. Between 60 and 90 Nez Perce men, women and children were killed during a 36-hour battle. Today the battlefield is part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, which consists of 38 sites that preserve the culture and the history of the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce consider the Big Hole National Battlefield a sacred burial ground, and many tribal members travel here to honor those who perished in the conflict.
• NPCA at Work Yellowstone Pronghorn Project: Saving Pronghorn at Yellowstone National Park By modifying miles of fencing, NPCA volunteers have worked for years to help Yellowstone pronghorn migrate safely and survive.
• Park Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area This underappreciated jewel offers a variety of outdoor attractions, from hiking to whitewater rafting to bird-watching to stargazing. One of the park’s most popular activities is horseback riding, and visitors can enjoy more than 180 miles of riding trails and stay in special campsites that will accommodate horses. The East Rim Overlook in the southeastern area of the park offers a spectacular view of where the river cuts a deep gorge into the Cumberland Plateau. Some of the most interesting natural features include the natural sandstone arches that formed along the edges of the gorge — hikers can see more than a dozen of these beautiful structures on the western side of the park.
• Park Bering Land Bridge National Preserve This roadless wilderness sits on the western edge of Alaska in an area known as the Seward Peninsula. Though few people travel here today, archaeologists believe that ancient populations migrated from Russia into the Americas across this stretch of land during the Ice Age 10,000-12,000 years ago when ocean levels dropped and exposed a 1,000-mile path between the continents. Once the stomping grounds of mastodons and mammoths, the preserve is now home to reindeer, muskox, wolverines and other hardy animals, and serves as a nesting site for birds traveling the Asiatic-North American Flyway. A few of the preserve’s most unusual features include towering rock formations known as tors, hot springs with year-round geothermic activity and giant lakes called maars that were formed by volcanic explosions.
• Report Awareness and Opinions about Gateway National Recreation Area An online poll conducted in the New York City area by Zogby International for NPCA in December 2006 measured the awareness and opinions of likely voters about Gateway National Recreation Area.
• NPCA at Work Don't Drill Near Dinosaur The Bureau of Land Management is considering offering oil and gas leases within 5 miles of Dinosaur National Monument, but drilling has no place at the doorstep of this Southwestern park and its world-class fossils.
• Megan Cantrell Former Social Media Manager Megan Cantrell worked at National Parks Conservation Association for 10 years, much of that time shepherding NPCA’s social media program.
• NPCA at Work Protect America's Coral Reefs from Irresponsible Development Developers are looking to construct two different marinas in Coral Bay on St. John, US Virgin Islands, which is surrounded by the lands and waters of Virgin Islands National Park and Coral Reef National Monument.
• Elizabeth Bradfield ELIZABETH BRADFIELD’S poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Orion, and The Believer; she is the author of the poetry collections Once Removed (forthcoming), Approaching Ice, and Interpretive Work. Bradfield still lives on Cape Cod, where she works as a naturalist. This essay will appear in Permanent Vacation: Twenty Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks: Volume II, The East, to be published in Spring 2016.
• Letter 100 Prominent Americans Letter from 100 Prominent Americans regarding the National Park Service centennial.
• Report Yellowstone’s Native Fisheries: Opportunities for Native Fish Conservation & Restoration The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the largest intact temperate ecosystems in the world, but its native fish face an uncertain future. The Arctic grayling, westslope cutthroat trout and Yellowstone cutthroat trout, once abundant in the ecosystem’s lakes, rivers and streams, are facing significant declines in their populations.
• Darryl Haley Darryl Haley is a world-renowned fitness trainer, former New England Patriot, Ironman Triathlete, and the Director of Music at the Monument for the Healthy Parks Healthy People initiative. He and his wife, Judy, are members of the NPCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Leadership Council. Tune in to WHUR 96.3 to listen to Darryl on “Fitness Fridays” during the Steve Harvey Morning Show.
• Park World War II Memorial This memorial on the National Mall stands across the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial, honoring all who served under the U.S. flag at home and abroad during World War II and inviting visitors to ponder the scope of the war that cost 405,399 American lives. Around an oval pool studded with fountains rise 56 granite columns adorned with bronze wreaths and the names of every state, district and territory that sent its sons and daughters to war. Two towers celebrate the Allied victories in the Atlantic and Pacific. Each of the 4,048 gold stars on the memorial wall represents 100 lives lost in the fight for freedom.
• Staff Neal Desai Senior Director of Field Operations Neal joined NPCA's Pacific office in 2004, and is now the Senior Director of Field Operations for this region.
• Staff Sarah Gaines Barmeyer Senior Managing Director of Conservation Programs Sarah Barmeyer is senior managing director for NPCA’s Conservation Programs where she coordinates priority initiatives for water restoration, landscape conservation, wildlife, and clean air.

Pagination