The Nature Fund for National Parks was incorporated on August 3, 2012 through the efforts of a group of concerned former National Park Service (NPS) natural resource professionals. They had watched NPS face ever growing threats to park natural resources without the needed growth in capacity to address them. There are an estimated $600 million in natural resource projects needs throughout the parks, and only $9 million in project funds to tackle them in 2013.Threats range from non-native pythons in Everglades National Park decimating birds and other native animals to decreased water flows in the Colorado River affecting Grand Canyon National Park and other parks. These threats diminish natural resources in parks every day.
Other critical needs are projects to provide a better understanding of the impacts that changing climate is having and will have on park resources, as well as projects to develop and apply tools to help resources adapt.
The Nature Fund for National Parks focuses exclusively on nature in parks. As a partner with NPS, the Fund promotes the mission of NPS by helping parks solve natural resource problems.