PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The official nonprofit organization of the National Park Service is receiving the largest grant in its history, a $100 million gift that the fundraising group described as transforming the nation’s national parks.
The National Park Foundation, created by Congress in the 1960s to support national parks, receives a donation from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. The Park Foundation described the gift on Monday as the largest grant in history to US national parks.
The money will be used to support the needs of the nation’s more than 400 national parks, said Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation.
The foundation hopes to announce the first round of grants from the donation later this year, Shafroth said.
Exactly how the money will be spent remains to be seen, but one of the foundation’s priorities is restoring coral reefs in Biscayne National Park in Florida, Shafroth said, while another priority is restoring trout species in western national parks.
In addition to funding initiatives that protect fragile ecosystems and species, Shafroth said the funds will also create opportunities for young people to visit national parks.
“This grant allows us to step up our efforts to ensure that our national parks are there for all, for generations to come,” he said.
The system’s hundreds of units include national parks, memorials, monuments, historical sites, and other locations. It includes iconic national parks such as Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Yosemite National Park in California, as well as beloved sites such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. It also includes protected areas that are inaccessible to many people, such as Buck Island. Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands.
The National Park Foundation is in the midst of its “Campaign for National Parks,” a billion-dollar fundraiser to support parks. The Lilly Endowment made a gift to support this work, said N. Clay Robbins, Lilly’s chairman and CEO.
“We believe the National Park Foundation’s campaign will enhance programming and promote the future vitality of our nation’s magnificent park system, monuments and historic sites,” Robbins said.
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