National Parks Conservation Association
“To protect and enhance America’s National Park System.”
The origin
How they started
The National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading independent voice for the national parks for more than a century, founded in 1919 just three years after the Park Service itself. It defends the parks from chronic underfunding, adjacent development, air and water pollution, and political interference. When a park faces a threat from outside its boundaries, NPCA is usually the group sounding the alarm.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “PROTECTING AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS.”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Boots on the ground
$20.4MTHE ORGANIZATION PROTECTS PARKS FROM EXTERNAL THREATS THAT NEGATIVELY EFFECT, DEGRADE, OR DESTROY PARK RESOURCES OR VALUES, AND SERVES TO PROTECT, RESTORE, AND MAINTAIN PARK, NATURAL, AND CULTURAL RESOURCES UNIMPAIRED FO...
Including $278,013 granted onward, most of it $355,423 to National Wildlife Federation.
Read it as they filed it
NATIONAL PARKS THRIVE: THE ORGANIZATION PROTECTS PARKS FROM EXTERNAL THREATS THAT NEGATIVELY EFFECT, DEGRADE, OR DESTROY PARK RESOURCES OR VALUES, AND SERVES TO PROTECT, RESTORE, AND MAINTAIN PARK, NATURAL, AND CULTURAL RESOURCES UNIMPAIRED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THE ORGANIZATION HAS OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ENSURE THAT THREATS TO RESOURCES AT OUR PARKS ARE DETECTED EARLY AND SOLUTIONS TO THESE THREATS IMPLEMENTED QUICKLY. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO IDENTIFIES AND CULTIVATE PARK CHAMPIONS WHO CAN ADVANCE POLICIES THAT PROTECT PARKS AND THWART EMERGING THREATS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Bringing people into the fight
$12.1MTHE LONG-TERM VIABILITY AND VIBRANCY OF THE NATIONAL PARKS DEPEND ON A BROADER, MORE DIVERSE, COMMITTED, AND ENGAGED CONSTITUENCY THAT VALUES THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA.
Including $13,147 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
NATIONAL PARKS ARE FOR EVERYONE: THE LONG-TERM VIABILITY AND VIBRANCY OF THE NATIONAL PARKS DEPEND ON A BROADER, MORE DIVERSE, COMMITTED, AND ENGAGED CONSTITUENCY THAT VALUES THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA. TO GAIN BROADER SUPPORT FOR THE PARKS, THE ORGANIZATION SEEKS TO CREATE A LARGER NATIONAL PARK COMMUNITY THAT IS ENGAGED, EDUCATED, AND EMPOWERED TO PROTECT AND ENHANCE OUR NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS. THIS BROADER COMMUNITY INCLUDES NON-TRADITIONAL ALLIES AND A BROADER CONSTITUENCY THAT MORE CLOSELY REPRESENTS THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS OF AMERICA.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Bringing people into the fight
$6.0MNATIONAL PARKS PROTECT OUR COUNTRYS MOST IMPORTANT HISTORY. THE ORGANIZATION WILL ENSURE THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HAS THE FUNDING NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE AND MAKE PARKS MORE RELEVANT TO ALL.
Including $84,263 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
PARKS TELL STORIES OF ALL AMERICANS: NATIONAL PARKS PROTECT OUR COUNTRYS MOST IMPORTANT HISTORY. THE ORGANIZATION WILL ENSURE THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HAS THE FUNDING NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE AND MAKE PARKS MORE RELEVANT TO ALL. BY ENHANCING PARK STORYTELLING, EXPANDING AND CREATING NEW PARKS, AND DEEPLY ENGAGING THE PUBLIC, WE CAN ENSURE THAT NATIONAL PARKS REPRESENT, WELCOME, AND SHARE A FULLER AMERICAN STORY WITH ALL VISITORS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
78 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
Backed on the record by Wilburforce Foundation, Kendeda Fund, Resources Legacy Fund and 1 other, latest filing FY24.
$38,403,094 programs, $4,234,176 management, $6,692,147 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at NPCA? Claim this page.
Those 900 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If NPCA is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 901The filings
14 years of filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $27,412,959 |
| 2012 | $25,782,975 |
| 2013 | $34,619,289 |
| 2014 | $28,657,291 |
| 2015 | $31,816,420 |
| 2016 | $32,673,919 |
| 2017 | $34,161,289 |
| 2018 | $42,004,321 |
| 2019 | $47,029,978 |
| 2020 | $40,067,349 |
| 2021 | $41,743,039 |
| 2022 | $48,480,006 |
| 2023 | $35,078,730 |
| 2025 | $51,618,326 |
From $27.4M in 2011 to $51.6M in FY25, across 14 public filings.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (5 shared cases), Earthjustice (5 shared cases), Sierra Club (5 shared cases), National Wildlife Federation (4 shared cases) and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (4 shared cases) and 20 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The record
On the Hill
NPCA files its own federal lobbying reports: 52 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 242 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on real estate/land use/conservation, budget/appropriations and natural resources.
Their ground
The places they defend
Plaintiff challenging the reinstated Ambler road permits, including the right of way across Gates of the Arctic National Preserve
Who’s defending it On the groundBiscayne National ParkSued Interior and won the 2024 ruling ordering the Park Service to implement Biscayne’s long-promised marine reserve zone
Who’s defending it On the groundDinosaur National MonumentRuns a dedicated Dinosaur campaign pressing BLM to weigh health and landscape harms before leasing in the Uinta Basin
Who’s defending it On the groundGulf Islands National SeashorePlaintiff in the challenge to the Gulf-wide endangered species exemption, naming Gulf Islands among the parks at risk
Who’s defending it On the groundPadre Island National SeashorePlaintiff in the challenge to the blanket Gulf oil and gas endangered species exemption, naming Padre Island among the threatened parks
Who’s defending it On the groundIndiana Dunes National ParkDocumented the park’s industrial air pollution in its Polluted Parks analysis and pressed EPA in 2024 to force a stronger Indiana regional haze plan cutting emissions from park-harming facilities.
Who’s defending itSee every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
National Parks Conservation Association files one related organization on its return: National Parks Action Fund (501(c)(4)). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Ways in
How to help
78 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with NPCA
107 years on the ground, 900 volunteers, 78 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.