Happy 100th Birthday to the NPCA!

Trail of the Cedars: The NPCA and allies halted a fracking operation outside Glacier National Park.

One hundred years ago today, on May 19, 1919, the National Parks Association was incorporated. Mather, the National Park Service’s first director, and Yard, a journalist had pushed for an organization independent of the federal agency whose mission was to promote and protect our National Parks.

Gettysburg National Military Park. The NPCA blocked a casino and racetrack from being built on the park’s outskirts on three different occasions.

In its century of existence, the NPA, which is now the National Parks Conservation Association, has grown from a few hundred members to 1.3 million. The organization has been a driving force behind the designation of many NPS sites, including the Everglades. It has protected old growth forests in our parks from being felled, the Grand Canyon from dams and commercial development, Gettysburg from casinos, etc…

In 1965, the NPCA and its allies prevented two proposed dams from being built in the Grand Canyon. In 2016, they blocked a huge commercial development just outside the park.

In recent years, the NPCA has fought alongside other environmental advocacy groups like the Sierra Club against the reduction or elimination of National Monuments in Utah. In March of this year, they won a court battle to preserve Historic Jamestown, preventing an energy company from building transmission towers on the site.

Happy centennial to the NPCA and thanks for all that you do!