Conservation and Biodiversity
For The Love of Parks
June 25, 2025
There’s something about stepping into a national park that awakens childlike wonder — the crisp mountain air, sunlight glinting off a river, birdsong replacing city noise. National parks are where many of us experience life’s most unforgettable firsts: the first time spotting a bear in the wild, jumping into a pine-ringed lake, or lying beneath an unbroken night sky.
For countless urban children in the U.S, it’s the first time escaping the concrete jungle for something vast and alive. They’re also where many of us fall in love for the first time — with the land, with each other, with the feeling of being fully present and alive on this planet. First hikes, first dates, first awe.
That magic, that sense of possibility, is why national parks have often been praised as “America’s best idea.” These parks are more than just scenic getaways; they’re classrooms, sanctuaries, and symbols of a shared national identity. Since Congress established Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872, the park system has grown to include 63 national parks across thirty states, and over 400 federally protected sites — from historic monuments to recreation areas. These congressionally designated lands invite us to reconnect with the Earth beneath our feet and the vast horizons ahead.
The National Park Service (NPS), founded in 1916, exists to safeguard these spaces — not just for the sake of the environment, but for all who seek solace, adventure, and belonging within them. But this legacy fo conservation and access to awe is under threat.
Confronting the Past for a Just Future
National parks preserve more than landscapes — they are central to climate resilience efforts, sequestering carbon, protecting biodiversity conservation efforts, and supplying clean air and water. These parks are crucial to the planet’s health, and our own. They are also engines for the economy: in 2023 alone, national park visitors spent $26.4 billion in nearby communities, supporting over 415,000 jobs and generating $55.6 billion in economic output.
But the significance of these open spaces goes deeper. From towering redwoods to rolling mountain ranges, every national park holds stories of geological wonders, of species both endangered and thriving, and of human history, in all its complexity. These lands were stewarded for generations by Indigenous peoples, long before names like John Muir and President Teddy Roosevelt entered the picture. While the early conservation movement warrants recognition, it also demands a critical lens. Many of these parks exist today because Indigenous communities were forcibly removed from the lands they called home. Together, we must confront the injustices that built the foundation of today’s park system.
Many parks are working to reckon with this history, expanding educational programs that center Indigenous voices and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), acknowledge land dispossession, and support environmental justice initiatives. But that evolution takes more than good intentions — it takes funding and commitment.
Who Gets to Experience the Outdoors?
While national parks are meant for everyone, access to nature has never been equal. For many low-income communities and people of color, systemic barriers like redlining and disinvestment make green space a rarity. Redlining, a discriminatory housing practice where banks and federal agencies labeled minority neighborhoods “high risk” for loans, led to decades of disinvestment, resulting in deteriorating infrastructure, underfunded schools, and a lack of environmental resources like trees or parks. The legacy of these racist policies is still visible today in urban areas where green spaces are sparse.
That’s why initiatives like the NPS Urban Agenda matter. Launched in 2015, the Urban Agenda seeks to bring the mission of the NPS to America’s cities, where more than 80% of the population now lives. The program assigns Urban Fellows to each of ten “model cities” — places where NPS collaborates with local governments, nonprofits, and community members to co-create programming tailored to urban needs. These initiatives help youth “play, learn, serve, and work outdoors” by establishing local outdoor experiences, restoring trails and parkland, and offering job training and employment in conservation and public service. Other NPS programs like Every Kid Outdoors and Youth Conservation Corps introduce young people to the outdoors while fostering environmental stewardship and career pathways in the park system.
However, this promise of equitable access remains out of reach if national parks and urban outreach programs do not receive adequate federal funding. Without sustained investment, these structural obstacles will persist — and the benefits of nature will continue to be distributed unequally.
Understaffed, Undermined, and Under Threat
Despite record visitation, national parks are facing unprecedented budget cuts. The new U.S administration’s 2026 budget proposes slashing over $1 billion from NPS — the largest cut in its 109-year history. Around 1,000 park staff, people who have dedicated themselves to preserving our most iconic landscapes, have already been let go. That means fewer rangers, fewer programs, and less protection for fragile ecosystems.
The results are visible: more litter and vandalism, degraded facilities, and a heavier burden on remaining staff, people who stay out of love for the land and belief in the public good of our national parks. And the magic, the very wonder that people feel when they visit these sites, starts to fade when trash lines a riverbank or a restroom falls into utter disrepair.
Why Funding Parks is Non-Negotiable
The love people feel for national parks transcends politics; these lands and the experiences they provide are widely cherished across partisan lines. They’re not just relics of the past; they’re promises to the future of our nation. They teach us about responsibility to the natural world and challenge us to confront history critically and honestly.
None of that happens without resources. The trails we walk, the rangers who guide us and keep us safe, climate mitigation efforts, the educational signs and programs — they’re all maintained by the NPS and the funding that sustains it.
Holding On To Wonder
This isn’t just about money. It’s about what kind of world we want to leave behind. We can’t expect national parks to keep inspiring future generations if we don’t fight for them now. Budget cuts send a clear message about what we value as a nation. If we truly believe in public lands and nature’s role in our health and happiness, we have to speak out and step up. Write to your Senator and let them know you care about your state’s park. You can source their phone numbers, offices, staff, and emails here: Contacting U.S. Senators
Support The Canopy Project, our global reforestation initiative. By planting trees in communities hit hardest by climate change and deforestation, you can help restore ecosystems — and preserve the sense of wonder that national parks bring to all of us.
Join the movement. Plant a tree. Protect the magic. Donate to The Canopy Project today. The future of our parks, and the memories yet to be made, depend on it.
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