Through NPF-supported programs across the country, students and their teachers will engage in educational field trips, young adults and veterans will have employment opportunities that help restore public lands, people of all ages will experience the joy of giving back through volunteer events, and emerging scholars will benefit from career development opportunities.

All of these efforts are part of NPF’s broader work to connect people to and protect our National Park System.

Making it possible for people to experience parks also is expected to help spur local economic growth, according to the foundation. Surrounding communities stand to directly benefit from park visitation. In 2017, for instance, visitor spending poured more than $18 billion into gateway communities.

“When people experience the incredible power of national parks, they are moved to do what they can to help preserve them,” said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. “Healthy and vibrant national parks need a strong community of champions supporting them and the National Park Foundation is committed to expanding that network.”

This goal includes funding for the National Park Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program, which connects elementary school-aged youth to national parks through meaningful, educational, and engaging field trips. In addition, NPF is bolstering efforts to protect and preserve national parks by supporting service corps, which engage youth and veterans in projects like trail restoration to improve the visitor experience, and by funding the restoration of habitats rich with wildlife like Drakes Estero at Point Reyes National Seashore in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Open OutDoors for Kids program also is planning to provide transportation funding for field trips, fosters collaboration among local partners, and raises awareness about the importance of connecting children to the outdoors in the Los Angeles area. Specifically, NPF funding enables Los Angeles and Ventura county schools to collaborate with California state parks, Santa Monica Mountains, and Channel Islands on park field trips.

The foundation also is making it possible for kids to participate in fishing clinics and NPS’s Junior Ranger Angler program. For example, at Biscayne National Park, in partnership with the International Game Fish Association, NPF provided funding for a day-long clinic, during which rangers gave demonstrations on fishing equipment and provided introductory lessons.

The foundation also is enabling service corps and their members to gain skills and training while restoring national parks. At Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, crews are repairing trails.

NPF also is making it possible for partner organizations to engage volunteers in fun and educational events that improve the visitor experience. The foundation is providing funding to the Student Consevation Association for the Governors Island ShinDIG volunteer event coming up on May 4.