The United States’ national parks have long been sanctuaries of natural beauty and cultural heritage. They draw millions of visitors each year, with 2024 hitting a record-breaking 331.9 million visits.
But today, these treasured places are under significant strain, having faced mounting challenges over the past decade: overcrowding, wildfires and climate-related threats, and years of underfunding that have stretched resources thin. Worse, in early 2025, approximately 1,000 probationary National Park Service (NPS) employees were terminated as part of budget cuts implemented by the Trump administration, and seasonal hiring was halted across the system. Recent legislation could bring back some of those terminated employees, but the park system is nonetheless going into its peak visitation months understaffed. This will lead to shortened hours, delayed maintenance, fewer ranger-led programs, and increased pressure on already overextended staffing teams.
During this moment, visiting a national park will be more than a summer getaway; visits can actively support the future of public lands. Here are some meaningful ways to help care for these extraordinary places, whether you’re setting out on a summer adventure or seeking to support from home.
Be a responsible visitor
Visit mindfully. With staff shortages affecting everything from trail maintenance to visitor safety, travelers can lighten the load by treading carefully. Stick to established trails to avoid damaging delicate ecosystems or increasing erosion, pack out all your trash (even if bins are available), and give wildlife the respectful distance it deserves. These small acts of personal responsibility become critical when fewer rangers are available to monitor fragile environments.
Spread out
Parks like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Zion see staggering visitation during the summer and routinely face summer congestion that harms the environment and diminishes the visitor experience. Consider exploring lesser-known national parks that are equally spectacular—and in need of your support. In Washington, North Cascades National Park offers glacier-fed lakes and solitude just a few hours from Seattle. In Nevada, Great Basin National Park dazzles with ancient bristlecone pines and some of the darkest night skies in the country. Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas rewards hikers with rugged desert beauty and the state’s highest peak. Choosing a quieter destination—or traveling during shoulder seasons or midweek—helps distribute visitor impact more evenly across the system.
Donate to the organizations that keep the parks thriving
Entrance fees are a sliver of what it takes to keep a park running. If you have the means, donating directly to organizations that bolster park infrastructure, fund wildlife research, and support rangers can be very impactful. Even small, recurring donations can have a lasting influence, especially as parks brace for another record-breaking summer. A few options:
- The America the Beautiful Pass: This pass not only grants access to hundreds of federal recreation sites but also helps fund them.
- National Park Foundation: The official philanthropic partner of the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation’s mission is to protect and enhance the United States’ national parks through private funding, conservation, education, and community engagement.
- The Conservation Alliance: A coalition of outdoor businesses dedicated to protecting wild places in North America. It funds grassroots conservation projects across public lands.
- American Prairie, Sierra Club, or The Wilderness Society: Each helps protect and expand public lands.
- Native Land Conservancy or Indian Land Tenure Foundation: Indigenous-led conservation projects.
- Friends groups: These are nonprofit partners specific to individual parks (like Friends of Acadia or Grand Teton National Park Foundation) that often fund trail repair, education, and wildlife monitoring.
Similarly, if you’re going to spend money on park swag, make it count. Consider buying guidebooks, maps, or merch directly from official park stores; those dollars help fund education programs, trail signage, and visitor centers. Companies like Parks Project, which sells apparel and other protected land-branded gear, donate a chunk of profits to conservation work. Between 2014 and 2023, it funded more than $2.6 million in park restoration efforts.
Volunteer, if you can
Volunteering is a hands-on way to give back. Opportunities range from single-day trail restoration projects to seasonal residencies, and many roles are still open despite staffing constraints. Through Volunteer.gov, you can search by park or interest—whether you’d prefer to restore native plants, assist with education programs, or provide visitor information.
Organizations like the Student Conservation Association offer opportunities for younger volunteers, while the National Parks Arts Foundation invites creatives to apply for artist residencies in exchange for place-based work that connects people to public lands.
Support nearby communities
Many national parks are surrounded by small, rural communities that rely on tourism. Choosing locally owned lodges, cafes, and outfitters ensures your dollars stay in the ecosystem of the place you’re visiting. Tip generously, buy handmade, and look for experiences led by local or Indigenous guides.
You can also support nonprofits making national parks more accessible to all Americans, including Outdoor Afro, Indigenous Women Hike, and Disabled Hikers. The organizations’ work helps expand who sees themselves as belonging in these landscapes.
Speak up for public lands
Many of the challenges facing public lands are policy-driven, and public engagement is required to shift the tide. Stay tuned to park-related policy discussions, and take action. You can contact your elected officials to express support for conservation funding, responsible recreation policies, and cultural inclusion in public land narratives. Organizations like the National Parks Conservation Association and Outdoor Alliance make sending prewritten letters to elected officials easy by allowing you to do so in a few clicks.
