Roosevelt Conservation Caucus members Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) recently introduced bipartisan legislation with Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) to increase funding the National Park Foundation can use to seek matching philanthropic dollars to support national parks.
The National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act would renew federal funding for the Foundation through fiscal year 2030 and increase the authorization level from $5 million to $15 million. The Foundation can use the higher authorization level to match private donations to help finance crucial deferred maintenance, Service Corps, historic preservation, and other signature projects and programs of the National Park Service at national parks around the country.
Created by Congress in 1967, the Foundation’s mission is to generate private support and build strategic partnerships to protect and enhance America’s national parks for present and future generations. As the official charitable partner of the National Park Service, the Foundation raises more than $100 million annually in private funds to support America’s national parks.
ConservAmerica supports the National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2022 and commends Sens. Portman and Daines and Rep. Westerman for their continued commitment to our nation’s national parks as members of the bicameral Roosevelt Conservation Caucus.
“Our national parks include some of America’s most unique and special places. It is often said that our national parks are being loved to death, and it’s true. Maintaining the 400 sites within the National Park System is a daunting task and one that is further challenged by rising visitation numbers and a long history of underinvestment in maintaining park infrastructure. Overdue maintenance at our national parks totals $20 billion. And while Congress continues to add new lands to the federal estate, it rarely provides adequate funding to maintain them,” said ConservAmerica’s Todd Johnston. “The National Park Foundation is a vital partner in ensuring our parks are well maintained for future generations to enjoy.”
ConservAmerica supported the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2020. That legislation directs revenues from energy development from federal areas to support the maintenance and operations of public lands through the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. And while the Great American Outdoors Act was a major achievement, more still needs to be done to keep our national parks from falling into disrepair.
The National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act would reduce deferred maintenance at national parks, advance public-private partnerships and address pressing issues like park overcrowding by incentivizing private-sector solutions.
The Foundation is the only national non-partisan, non-profit organization with a mission tied to directly supporting the success of the National Park Service. To date, the Foundation has received $23 million in federal appropriations. Since first receiving federal funds, the National Park Foundation has leveraged those funds through the power of private philanthropy to match and more than double this critically important federal investment, adding to the tens of millions of private, philanthropic dollars the National Park Foundation and a growing community of park partners invest in America’s national parks each year.