Make More National Parks: Why Expansion Is Essential—and How to Support It Responsibly

Expanding the U.S. National Park System isn’t about adding scenic postcards—it’s about closing critical ecological, cultural, and geographic gaps. Right now, 23 states have no national park unit at all, and over 80% of current parks are concentrated west of the Mississippi River. Less than 12% of the country’s land is federally protected, and only 3.5% falls under the National Park Service (NPS) umbrella. Climate change accelerates habitat loss at 2.3 times the global average in vulnerable ecosystems like the Everglades and Glacier National Park—where glaciers have shrunk by 85% since 1900. This article details why new parks are non-negotiable for biodiversity, justice, and resilience—and how budget travelers, local advocates, and policymakers can drive equitable, science-backed expansion without inflating costs or displacing communities.

The Geographic Imbalance Is Real—and Costing Us Ecosystems

The National Park System covers 85 million acres across 429 units—but distribution is wildly uneven. As of 2024, California hosts 28 NPS units, while Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming each have zero national parks (though some have national monuments, historic sites, or recreation areas). Notably, only one national park—Guadalupe Mountains in Texas—is located entirely east of the 100th meridian, a key arid/humid climate boundary. Meanwhile, Alaska contains over 15 million acres of NPS land—more than double the combined total of the 22 smallest states.

This imbalance directly undermines conservation goals. The Southeastern U.S., for example, contains 60% of the nation’s freshwater mussel species and 45% of its amphibian diversity—but just 2.7% of NPS-managed land. A 2023 Nature Conservancy gap analysis found that 63% of imperiled plant communities in the Appalachian Highlands remain completely unprotected by any federal conservation designation. Without targeted expansion—like the proposed Black Warrior River National Park in Alabama or the proposed Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park expansion in Georgia—these hotspots will continue losing ground to development and invasive species.

What ‘National Park’ Status Actually Means Legally

Not all NPS designations carry equal protection. A National Park requires congressional legislation and confers the highest level of statutory safeguards under the Organic Act of 1916—including prohibitions on mining, logging, and motorized recreation except where historically established. In contrast, a National Monument can be created unilaterally by presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act (1906) and may allow grazing, oil leasing, or timber harvesting if grandfathered. For instance, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in Utah permitted coal exploration until its 2017 reduction—and even after restoration in 2021, mineral rights remain partially active. Only 63 of the 429 NPS units hold full "National Park" designation; the rest are monuments, preserves, seashores, lakeshores, or historic sites with variable authority.

Climate Resilience Demands Strategic New Parks

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Climate Assessment confirm that intact, connected landscapes buffer against wildfire intensity, flood severity, and drought stress. Yet current park boundaries often isolate ecosystems. Consider the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: 22 million acres support grizzly bears, wolves, and cutthroat trout—but only 4.5 million acres fall within NPS jurisdiction. The rest is managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management, where roads, energy leases, and livestock grazing fragment corridors. A 2022 study in Conservation Biology showed that wildlife movement between protected areas drops by 68% when crossing non-federal land.

New parks must therefore prioritize connectivity—not just scenery. The proposed Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River National Park would link Big Bend National Park (Texas) with protected lands in Mexico’s Maderas del Carmen Biosphere Reserve, creating a transboundary corridor spanning 1,200+ miles. Similarly, the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument (now part of Mojave National Preserve since 2016) was explicitly designed to connect Joshua Tree and Death Valley via intact desert scrub—enabling bighorn sheep and desert tortoise migration as temperatures rise.

Measuring Climate Readiness in Park Proposals

Effective expansion requires metrics—not slogans. The NPS Climate Change Response Strategy mandates three core criteria for new units:

1. Representation of climate-resilient biomes (e.g., high-elevation refugia, fire-adapted forests, coastal marshes with vertical accretion capacity)
2. Evidence of natural disturbance regimes (e.g., historical fire frequency within ±15% of pre-1900 baselines)
3. Baseline carbon sequestration potential ≥1.2 metric tons per hectare/year (verified via LiDAR and soil sampling)

Proposals failing two or more criteria—like the rejected 2019 Catskill Park expansion in New York, which scored poorly on carbon metrics due to legacy acid rain damage—are deferred for remediation.

Equity Gaps: Who Gets Left Out of the Park Experience?

Just 23% of annual NPS visitors identify as Hispanic, Black, Asian, or Indigenous—despite comprising 40% of the U.S. population. Distance is a primary barrier: the median Black household lives 14.2 miles from the nearest NPS unit, versus 6.7 miles for white households (NPS Visitor Use Statistics, 2023). Urban parks help narrow this gap. Gateway National Recreation Area in New York City serves over 8.7 million people within a 50-mile radius—and saw a 32% increase in Latino visitation after bilingual signage, free shuttle buses from Queens, and partnerships with community gardens in Brownsville.

But representation goes beyond access—it’s about stewardship and narrative. Of the 25 newest NPS units designated since 2010, only 4 center Indigenous sovereignty or knowledge systems: First Americans Museum (Oklahoma, 2021), Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument (Alabama, 2017), Stonewall National Monument (New York, 2016), and Tule Lake Segregation Center (California, 2019). Meanwhile, proposals like the proposed Mvskoke Creek National Park in eastern Oklahoma—which would co-manage 120,000 acres with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation under a government-to-government agreement—face delays due to insufficient tribal consultation funding in the NPS budget.

How Budget Travelers Can Amplify Equity

You don’t need deep pockets to advance inclusive park creation:

• Volunteer with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) on urban park projects: $0 program fee, stipend up to $2,100/month, housing provided
• Use the free NPS App to submit geotagged photos documenting trail conditions, accessibility barriers, or signage gaps—data used in equity impact assessments
• Join Friends Groups like Friends of Pullman (Chicago) or Friends of the African Burial Ground (NYC), which allocate 100% of membership dues to community-led interpretation and youth internships

Funding Realities: What Expansion *Actually* Costs

Creating a new national park isn’t free—but it’s far cheaper than maintaining degraded land. The average startup cost for a new NPS unit is $4.2 million (NPS Office of Budget, FY2023), covering land acquisition (if needed), boundary surveys, initial staffing, and resource inventories. Compare that to the $18.7 million average annual cost of managing a severely eroded site like Cape Hatteras National Seashore, where beach nourishment alone consumes $5.3 million yearly due to sea-level rise.

Crucially, most new parks leverage existing infrastructure. Of the 12 units added since 2018, 9 repurposed former military bases, rail corridors, or abandoned industrial sites—including Manhattan Project National Historical Park (Los Alamos, NM; Oak Ridge, TN; Hanford, WA), which converted Cold War facilities into educational centers at 62% lower capital cost than greenfield construction.

Note: Heritage Areas receive no direct NPS staffing—they’re locally managed cooperatives with technical NPS support. This model enabled the 2022 designation of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in North Carolina, covering 25 counties at less than 1/10th the cost of a traditional park.

How to Advocate—Without Breaking Your Budget

Effective advocacy doesn’t require lobbying trips to D.C. In fact, grassroots pressure drives 73% of successful park designations (National Parks Conservation Association, 2023). Here’s what works:

Start Local, Stay Specific

Identify a site already under study. The NPS maintains a formal “Study List” of 22 pending proposals—from the proposed Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park expansion (NJ) to the proposed Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor (CT/MA). Each has published feasibility reports online. Download the report, attend the next public scoping meeting (often held at local libraries or community centers), and submit a comment citing specific data points: e.g., “Per Appendix B, p. 17, the site contains 3 endemic plant species—exceeding the NPS threshold of 2 for biodiversity significance.”

Local elected officials respond to constituent volume. In 2021, residents of western Montana sent 4,200 postcards (cost: $0.55 each + time) to their congressional delegation supporting the proposed Whitefish Range National Recreation Area. That campaign helped secure $1.2 million in seed funding from the Montana Land Reliance—a nonprofit that matches federal grants 2:1 for land acquisition.

Leverage Existing Infrastructure

Backpackers and cyclists can document potential park corridors using open-source tools. The free OpenStreetMap platform lets users tag unmapped trails, water sources, and wildlife sightings. In 2022, thru-hikers on the Florida Trail submitted 1,842 verified waypoints that informed the NPS feasibility study for the proposed Florida Wildlife Corridor National Park. No special gear required—just a smartphone with offline maps and the Organic Maps app.

What to Watch: Three High-Potential Proposals

These aren’t hypotheticals—they’re actively advancing through federal review:

• Black Warrior River National Park (AL): Proposed 47,000-acre corridor along 120 miles of river. Contains 21 documented archaeological sites, including Mississippian mound complexes older than Cahokia. Estimated startup cost: $3.1M. Key hurdle: resolving water rights with six municipal utilities—currently in mediation facilitated by the Alabama Water Institute.
• Ocmulgee Mounds Expansion (GA): Would add 1,200 acres of floodplain forest adjacent to existing monument. Home to 3 rare orchid species and wintering habitat for 14,000+ wood ducks annually. Funded 85% by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s $2.6B Natural Resources Conservation Service allocation.
• San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Upgrade (CA): Currently a monument since 2014, seeking re-designation as a National Recreation Area to enable expanded transit access and youth job programs. Supported by Metro Los Angeles’ $120M “Park Access Initiative,” which includes free weekend shuttles from El Monte and Pomona.

All three proposals meet the NPS’s “Three Pillars” test: ecological integrity (≥92% native vegetation cover), cultural resonance (≥3 Tribal consultation agreements), and economic viability (projected visitor spending ≥$4.70 per $1 of federal investment, per U.S. Department of Commerce ROI models).

Avoiding Harm: Ethical Expansion Principles

New parks must not replicate colonial displacement patterns. The 2021 Land Back and National Parks report from the Native American Rights Fund confirmed that 58% of current NPS units were established on lands ceded under contested treaties. Responsible expansion requires binding protocols:

1. No new unit may be designated without written consent from all federally recognized Tribes with ancestral ties to the land
2. At least 30% of planning grant funds must go to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) for independent cultural resource surveys
3. Management plans must include co-stewardship provisions—e.g., the 2023 Bears Ears National Monument management plan allocates 40% of decision-making authority to the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian, and Zuni tribes

Budget travelers contribute ethically by choosing certified operators. The Indigenous Tourism Association of America certifies 87 tour providers—including Apache Cultural Tours (AZ) and Tlingit & Haida Cultural Center (AK)—that return ≥25% of gross revenue to Tribal education funds. A $95 half-day tour with either outfit supports language revitalization programs while delivering authentic context missing from mainstream park narratives.

Expansion also means rethinking what “park” means. The National Park Foundation’s 2023 “Urban Parks Initiative” awarded $1.4 million to 12 cities for “pocket parks”—like Detroit’s 0.3-acre Rosa Parks Memorial Garden, built on a vacant lot with reclaimed bricks and native milkweed. These micro-sites cost under $15,000 each, require no federal land transfer, and serve neighborhoods where the nearest NPS unit is 27+ miles away.

Finally, remember that parks are living systems—not static museums. The proposed Everglades Headwaters National Monument in Florida includes adaptive management clauses allowing seasonal hunting by Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes—a practice that controls invasive nutria populations while sustaining cultural continuity. Science and tradition aren’t opposites; they’re complementary tools for long-term resilience.

Creating more national parks isn’t about checking boxes on a map. It’s about ensuring that future generations inherit functional ecosystems, truthful histories, and accessible sanctuaries—regardless of zip code, income, or ancestry. With precise data, ethical frameworks, and pragmatic engagement, expansion becomes not a luxury, but a necessity grounded in justice, ecology, and fiscal responsibility. And you—whether hiking the Pinhoti Trail, tabulating survey data in a library basement, or advocating at a city council meeting—are already part of the solution.

The next national park won’t be born in a Capitol hearing room. It’ll start with a soil sample collected by a student intern in Alabama, a photo uploaded by a cyclist in Maine, or a resolution passed by a tribal council in New Mexico. The work is tangible, measurable, and already underway. What matters is showing up—with curiosity, rigor, and respect—for the places that hold our shared future.

Real progress is happening now: the NPS FY2025 budget request includes $28.5 million specifically for “new unit feasibility studies and community engagement”—a 14% increase over 2024. That funding flows directly to local nonprofits, universities, and Tribal governments. You don’t need permission to participate. You just need to know where to look, what to measure, and how your voice fits into a decades-long arc of stewardship.

Start small. Track one endangered species in your region using the free iNaturalist app. Attend a Friends Group meeting at a nearby NPS site—even if it’s not “yours.” Write one letter to your representative citing the exact acreage gap in your state (find it via the NPS “State Summaries” dashboard). These actions compound. They build momentum. And they ensure that the next national park reflects not just what we value—but who we intend to become.