They are considered a national legacy and a national treasure. America's national parks protect our country's majestic landscapes and historic lands. They provide the adventurous an escape into the wild and offer families the opportunity to explore and learn about nature. We’re proud to help the National Park Service protect and expand this legacy.
The park service manages more than 84 million acres of land, including at least 50 national parks, 74 national monuments, 24 battlefields and military parks and 18 national preserves. It also oversees sites on the National Register of Historic Places and sites considered National Historic Landmarks and National Trails. The Fund and NPS have worked together to protect land at many types of properties including, but not limited to, the ones listed below:
Every spring and fall nearly half a million Western Arctic Caribou—the second largest Western Arctic Caribou herd in North America—migrate through Kobuk Valley National Park. The caribou range covers 140,000 miles, and the Kobuk River, which runs roughly 61 miles through the park, is a critical point in the migration route.
In 2010, we assisted the National Park Service in purchasing land from an owner who needed to sell his property but wanted to sell to a buyer who would conserve, rather than develop, the land. Click here to view a photo gallery and find out more about how we assisted in preserving the caribou migration route while expanding Kobuk Valley National Park.
As a popular destination for Americans for generations, it may come as a surprise that not all of the land in and around the park is saved for public enjoyment. That's why, in 2011, we helped the National Park Service add 26,000 acres to the park, expanding it by roughly a quarter. These acres had been privately owned ranchland but as part of the park, connect areas already managed by the State and National Park Service. "The potential for notable paleontological discoveries on the new property far surpasses much of what is in the existing park boundaries," said paleontologist Bill Parker. The park now offers unparalleled opportunities for scientific research and one-of-a-kind experiences for more than 630,000 visitors each year. There's more to this story. Click here to read more and view a photo gallery >>
President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park more than 100 years ago, protecting historic cliff dwellings and other archaeological treasures left by the Ancestral Puebloans. With bipartisan support from Colorado's congressional delegation, in 2007 we assisted the National Park Service in adding 324 acres to the park, ensuring that visitors to Mesa Verde will enter the park through preserved and scenic land. Mesa Verde National Park website.
Dramatic rock formations, known as the Pinnacles, define Gunnison National Park's Black Canyon. In 2003, we protected a 1,480-acre inholding in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and Gunnison County—and with tremendous support from the National Park Service. The lands provide a scenic backdrop for the Curecanti National Recreation Area, home to bighorn sheep, elk and Gunnison sage grouse. Gunnison National Park website.
In January 2008, the National Park Service requested our help in acquiring land within Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. Our efforts expanded the park by more than 4,100 acres and opened land for public enjoyment for the first time in more than 100 years. The property, a former ranch, adds almost a mile of frontage on the Pacific Ocean and rises more than 6,000 feet to the rim of the Haleakala Crater.
The park preserves Haleakala Volcano, fragile native Hawaiian ecosystems, rare and endangered species and numerous cultural sites. It extends from the Kipahulu area at sea level to 10,023 feet in elevation at its highest point in the Summit area. It includes 30,183 acres, of which 24,719 acres are designated wilderness. The park preserves and protects a valuable part of our nation’s heritage and makes it available to approximately 1.7 million visitors each year for their enjoyment, understanding and appreciation. Click here to read more and view a photo gallery >>
In 2011, the Fund worked with the National Park Service to add more than 5,500 acres to Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. The property includes a thousand-year-old buffalo jump and a historic homestead. Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. On the surface, the park now features more than 30,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest that provide important habitat for bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs. Click here to read more and view a photo gallery >>
The National Park System includes 18 National Preserves.
Established by Congress in 1974, Big Thicket was the first preserve in the National Park System. According to the park service: "Designation of Big Thicket as a national preserve created a different management concept for the National Park Service. Preserve status prevents further timber harvesting but allows oil and gas exploration, hunting, and trapping to continue." We have helped protect more than 41,600 acres at Big Thicket National Preserve, a unique area renowned as the "biological crossroads of North America." Click here to read more and view a photo gallery >>
Established in 1992, the Little River Canyon National Preserve features one of the nation's longest mountaintop rivers, the Little River, which flows along the rim of Lookout Mountain. In 2007, we partnered with The Nature Conservancy to preserve more than 80 acres of scenic lands along the eastern rim—nearly 500 feet above the gorge. Fred and Alice Stanback Jr. provided key support for the acquisition, which is part of an ongoing effort led by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to protect the canyon's spectacular viewshed and to build the Little River Canyon National Preserve on behalf of the park service. Previously, we worked with private landowners to protect blufflands as an addition to this preserve. Little River Canyon National Preserve website.
Fort Davis originally was a frontier post in the fledgling Southwest and later was home to the Army’s first African-American troops—the famed Buffalo Soldiers. Today the Fort Davis National Historic Site is one of the best preserved examples of a frontier military post in the American Southwest with many fully-restored buildings and original ruins.
But there has always been one aspect of the fort that remained at risk—its view. Most of the landscape surrounding Fort Davis has been protected, but a prominent 49-acre bluff overlooking the fort was for sale, generating concern that the pristine view would be disturbed. Conservation buyer Roy Truitt stepped in and purchased the property as a temporary solution, holding it for two years while we worked with the National Park Service to add the land to Fort Davis National Historic Site. In January 2011, we finalized the transfer of the land. Now, with the view protected, the historical character of the fort will be preserved for future generations to enjoy. Click here to read more and view a photo gallery >>
We are working closely with the National Park Service and other partners to conserve land at the site of three former camps: Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho, Topaz in Utah and Tule Lake in Northern California. In April 2008, we transferred one property that was part of Minidoka to the park service, which until then was unable to expand the property because available lands were outside the authorized boundary of the monument. Click here to read more & view our photo gallery >>
Click here to find out more about the Fund's Japanese-American Internment Camp Protection Initiative.
With our partners, the Fund's Civil War Battlefield Campaign has protected historic sites through 73 projects in 13 states—more than 8,100 acres. We partnered with the park service to preserve several of these sites including Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and Bear Paw Battlefield in Montana. We added 200 acres to Bear Paw Battlefield, part of Nez Perce National Historical Park and Nez Perce National Historic Trail. The hallowed ground marks the site of the last battle of the Nez Perce War of 1877.
For a full list of projects, including those with the National Park Service, click here.
In 2006, we protected the "portal" to this National Scenic Trail, which is managed by the National Park Service. Stretching from North Dakota to Vermont, the North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest of the eight National Scenic Trails in the United States. We purchased 5,886 acres of working forestland from Wausau Paper and held it until the state of Wisconsin could secure funds to acquire it. North Country National Scenic Trail website.
We joined with a team of partners to help the National Park Service build support for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, which now promotes recreation, tourism and environmental protection in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Read more about the establishment of this national trail.
In honor of the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, we embarked on a major campaign to commemorate the legendary journey by protecting open space, river corridors and resources associated with the passage. We helped to protect more than 25,000 acres of critical land along the Lewis and Clark Trail, which is managed by the National Park Service. In 2005, we preserved 1,000 acres for the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon and Washington. Learn More.
Photos: Caribou, Dawn Nichols/iStockphoto; Petrified Forest/National Park Service; Mesa Verde, Alex E. Promios/Flickr; Black Canyon and Gunnison National Park/ Lisa Lynch, National Park Service; Kaupo Gap, Maui/ Conor Dupre-Neary; Buffalo at Wind Cave National Park/Zane Hickman, Flickr; Pitcher plant at Big Thicket/Michael Easmon; Fort Davis/The Conservation Fund; Minidoka Internment Camp/courtesy Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley; Canons at Gettysburg National Military Park/Kristine Meek, The Conservation Fund; John Smith boat/Bill Portlock.
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