Are national parks struggling?

The National Park Service presently has a cumulative monetary shortfall of approximately $11.1 billion. [6] This shortfall, which has accumulated over the years, has arisen from a backlog of unfunded operations, construction projects, land acquisitions, and resource protection projects.



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Climate change is the greatest threat the national parks have ever faced.

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Threatened National Parks. Impacts from sources beyond their borders, overcrowding during some parts of the year, air quality issues, invasive species, and even the maintenance backlog in the National Park System all pose threats of varying degrees to some parks.

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Park Congestion and Overcrowding In 2021 and 2022, park visitation increased from 2020 levels and is now comparable to levels seen in the years just prior to the NPS Centennial of 2016. In 2021, the most recent year of complete data, the National Park Service received 297 million recreation visits.

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The consequences of the climate crisis – more wildfires, devastating drought, sea level rise, flooding, ecological disease – are plaguing the country's national parks. Most recently, unprecedented flash flooding overwhelmed Yellowstone National Park and some of its surrounding areas.

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Opponents claim the land could be made more economically productive. They say wildlands are a detriment to society and do not help the average citizen. And they argue—somewhat bizarrely—that our children will one day thank us for not making parks. President Theodore Roosevelt in Yellowstone National Park in 1903.

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National Parks Protect the Nation's National Heritage The stunning landscapes, beautiful forests and impressive natural formations are important parts of the country's heritage. Protecting these things should be considered part of the country's value.

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National parks benefit the environment by supporting a wide assortment of critical needs such as biodiversity, healthy ecosystems and key habitats, preserving endangered species, acting as a source of clean water (and as a producer of clean energy), and helping to reduce the impacts of natural disasters due to an ...

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