Our Mission: To protect and enhance America's National Parks for present and future generations.

1. Our Mission: To protect and enhance America's National Parks for present and future generations. We believe that America's national parks and historical sites embody the American spirit. They are windows to our past, homes to some of our rarest plants and animal species, and places where every American can go to find inspiration, peace, and open space.

2. But these living, breathing monuments to our nation's history, culture, and landscape need care and support to overcome the many dangers that threaten to destroy them forever. At the National Parks Conservation Association, we work every day to ensure our national parks get that vital care and support.

3. NPCA plays a crucial role in ensuring that these magnificent lands and landmarks are protected in perpetuity: We advocate for the national parks and the National Park Service;  we educate decision makers and the public about the importance of preserving the parks;  we help to convince members of Congress to uphold the laws that protect the parks and to support new legislation to address threats to the parks;  we fight attempts to weaken these laws in the courts;  and we assess the health of the parks and park management to better inform our advocacy work.

4. In more than 85 years, we have grown to represent 330,000 members through our DC headquarters and 22 regional and field offices, all working to "protect and enhance America's National Park System for present and future generations."

5. In addition to our national headquarters in Washington, D.C., NPCA has 22 regional and field offices across the country--working as the first line of defense in the continuing struggle to fulfill our mission to protect the national parks for present and future generations. NPCA's regional and field staff are uniquely poised to form effective partnerships with local activists, governments, and organizations.  Where We Work

6. Today, the National Park System’s 391 units, covering more than 83 million acres, include sites ranging from the homes of historic figures to Civil War battlefields, from Alaska’s gigantic, 13.2-million-acre Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve to Ford’s Theater National Historic Site, commemorating where President Lincoln was assassinated. In addition to national parks, the park system includes national monuments, seashores, recreation areas, historic sites, military parks, battlefields, and other designated units. Through this variety, the park units compose a system of sites that represent the heritage and spirit of America

7. The Park Service is required to provide the highest quality of use and enjoyment of the National Park System by visitors today and in the future

8. Yellowstone National Park The most famous geothermal feature of the park is Old Faithful, but it's only one of more than 500 geysers. Visitors flock to Old Faithful because it erupts with regularity, sending a jet of water up to 165 feet high for as long as four minutes. Eruptions discharge about 10,000 to 12,000 gallons of water.

9. Our national parks provide some of the best, and sadly some of the last, remaining habitats for countless species. In fact, one-third of endangered and threatened species in our nation can be found within park boundaries.

11. But many of our national parks are being impacted by nearby development, pollution, recreational uses, and other human activities. Our parks and our wildlife are in jeopardy. The most important thing I've learned from being involved with NPCA is that a single person can and does make a difference. -Bernadette Laqueur, NPCA Volunteer

12. We invite you to become part of the NPCA family. Together, we can protect our national parks for this generation and those that come after. National Parks Conservation Association1300 19th St., N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036phone: 800-628-7275/fax: 202-659-0650/e-mail:npca@npca.org