By Rachel Puryear

Among the great many horrors and looming threats to democracy unfolding in the USA these days, are painful cuts to funding many programs and entities beneficial to the public, including our treasured and amazing national parks. If you love these parks, you may be wondering how you can help them, and desire to empower yourself to do so now.

Did you know that for every dollar invested in our national parks, they generate a return of $15? That’s one of the best returns there is on investments. Aside from the obvious and deep non-monetary benefits of investing in national parks, they are actually a great monetary payoff, as well. They should receive a much greater investment of funds, not less.

Donate

Donating money, if you can afford to do so, is a great way to help support the parks while their already-too-small funding is being stolen away from them.

Good organizations to donate to in order to help your parks include: National Park Conservation Association, National Park Foundation, National Forest Foundation, National Park Trust, The Conservation Alliance, American Prairie, Sierra Club The Wilderness Society Native Land Conservancy, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, Earthjustice, and the National Park Service.

You can also purchase an annual America the Beautiful Pass, granting you unlimited access to National Parks and National Monuments across the country, and the proceeds of these passes also helps to support the parks.

If you’re someone with lots of followers and you like leadership, consider becoming a fundraiser for the National Park Foundation, too.

Use Your Voice

Tell your elected representatives to protect public lands, and to reject funding cuts and other adverse actions.

New to speaking out, and not sure what to do? Don’t worry – the National Parks Conservation Association and Outdoor Alliance make it easy. On their websites, you can send pre-written letters to your reps, and sign petitions, with just a few clicks.

Here is also a great guide to contacting your elected representatives yourself, if you’d like to give that a go.

Volunteer

If you have time and skills to offer, and want a hands on way to support the parks, you can volunteer.

See here for the National Park Services’s guide to volunteering, and how to get started.

Leave No Trace, and Generally Be a Good Visitor

Pack it in, pack it out. Please be respectful of these lands, and treat them as special and sacred. If you see debris left by someone else, consider picking it up – for the greater good.

Please follow all park rules, including driving carefully through them; for the sake of better preserving the parks, and out of respect for the amazing wildlife and natural beauty that you came to see and experience.

You get to visit these parks today, because of those who came before you and fought hard to conserve the lands (against corporate interests, developers, mining companies, polluters, poachers, and more). Consider doing your part to carry on that good work, for future generations, so that they may enjoy them like you have.

Shop to Support Parks, and Support Nearby Communities

Check out, and consider purchasing, great guide books to the parks and other goods from the See America campaign, benefitting Earthjustice – an organization litigating for good to preserve environmental protections, and conserving public lands.

Also, most of the parks are located within rural communities, and those tend to rely on tourism for their incomes and to sustain the towns.

Therefore, consider staying in locally owned lodging, shopping and dining at locally owned stores and restaurants, and in general trying to purchase locally while you’re out there. This helps to make a big difference for the local communities which also help support the parks, and improve the visitors’ experiences.

Visit, Bring Loved Ones, and Teach Your Children

There’s probably a park you haven’t visited, but would like to. Perhaps you know someone who’s never been to a park, but is intrigued. Perhaps you have children, and would like to introduce them to these parks.

Go for it. Have an awesome and unforgettable experience at a park, and share it with someone you love. Showing them to young people is also important, to foster a love and sense of stewardship of the parks in the next generation, to keep that going. You won’t regret it.

The parks are great for lone travelers, as romantic destinations for couples (a more original idea, and with a lot less shelling out money, than a resort), as family vacations, and groups of friends alike. They’re for all of us. Go and enjoy them, including together.

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Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here’s to our great National Parks. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” and subscribe, if you have not already.

Check out my other blog, too – World Class Hugs, at https://worldclasshugs.com.

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