Impact

2022 National

Park Partners

Recommendations

Partners demonstrated remarkable resilience over the past two years, navigating 

the COVID-19 pandemic and related challenges to advance NPS’s mission.

The national park partner community consists of 450+ 

private organizations that support the national park 

system with direct and indirect support.

$400+ MILLION

$600+ MILLION

90% OF PARTNERS

Olympic National Park, Dawn Kish

Mesa Verde National Park,

Jeremy Wade Shockley

How partners support parks 

What partners prioritize

What we heard 

from partners:

Our recommendations 

to the community:

EDUCATION RESTORATION CULTURE CONSERVATION CONSTRUCTION

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN, NC) 

established a $9 million endowment for Historic Preservation – 

Forever Places to restore cabins and other historic structures

The Zion National Park Forever Project (UT) is investing in the 

East Zion Initiative: a new Visitor Center, trails, transportation 

hub, and interpretive educational experiences

Trust for Public Land and the Friends of Hawai’i Volcanoes 

National Park added over 16,000 acres to the Hawai’i Volcanoes 

National Park through the Pōhue Bay Conservation project

Save the Dunes Conservation Fund (IN) plans to develop 

shoreline erosion resilience and climate solutions with local 

surrounding communities in Northwest Indiana

21st century visitor experience: improving 

access and usability, restoring structures, and 

modernizing visitation.

The #1 challenge faced 

is lack of capacity, 

internally and at NPS

Two-thirds of 

partners request 

fundraising support, 

with many interested 

in peer collaboration 

and diversity, equity, 

and inclusion

There are many pressing 

issues that a�ect the 

future of national parks 

Build NPS capacity

Refresh Director’s Order and Reference Manual 21 to 

empower partners through greater engagement and clarity

Accelerate NPS workforce growth and targeted hiring 

practices to advance work with partners 

Expand public-private partnership opportunities to support 

park management, professional development, employee 

support structures (e.g., housing), and other services

Extend partner community support

Amplify fundraising support for innovative projects and 

partner requests (e.g., digital fundraising)

Support partners’ work to create diverse, equitable, and 

inclusive organizations (e.g., expand equity-related 

programming, development of DEI plans, outreach to 

historically excluded communities)

Extend the Friends Alliance’s reach via strategic planning 

Pursue a national collective campaign with a set of national 

priorities that resonate locally with partners

Tackle tomorrow’s big issues, today

Explore establishing a “think and do” tank to anticipate the 

challenges of tomorrow, to monitor environmental, tourism, 

technological, and economic trends that are relevant to 

national parks, and to collaboratively develop, pilot, fund, and 

scale solutions

And more: Partners are increasingly providing operational support, sta�ng visitor centers or taking 

on maintenance to ensure parks can continue serving the public

EXAMPLES

Conservation and climate resiliency: adapting 

to climate change and protecting land, species, 

and habitat.

*Based on a survey of 125 partner organizations

Partners support parks with a range of activities. The following shows the 

percentage of organizations participating in each activity.*

expect �nancial contributions to NPS to 

meet or exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2022

in park-related revenue was generated 

by partners in 2021

50%+ OF PARTNERS

made innovative permanent changes due to COVID 

to provide virtual events or adopt remote work

in estimated support was provided to NPS 

by partners in 2021 

nationalparks.org/uploads/2022_ParkPartnersReport.pdf

This is a companion to the full 

2022 Park Partners Report

EXAMPLES

Great Basin National Park Foundation (NV) is expanding 

outreach to diverse and historically excluded youth, both tribal 

and non-tribal, in urban areas 

The Student Conservation Association and Conservation 

Legacy engaged indigenous youth in service projects

Cache La Poudre River National Heritage Area (CO) is integrating 

inclusive storytelling of indigenous peoples and immigrants

The National Park Foundation launched an Inclusive Storytelling 

Grant designed to support projects that help the National Park 

Service share more inclusive and comprehensive narratives, reduce 

park storytelling backlogs, and invest in sta� capacity to sustain 

transformative interpretation

Inspiring future park stewards: educating 

and welcoming youth to our national parks.

EXAMPLES

Telling the history of America: inclusive 

storytelling, educating the public about our heritage. 

EXAMPLES

88% 77% 65% 61% 56%