As the National Park Service has said: “History is everywhere.” From wilderness adventure to wartime battle, our nation’s history lives on in our landscape. Partnering with NPS, we’re proud to protect this legacy.

The park service manages more than 84 million acres of land, including at least 50 national parks, 74 national monuments, 24 battlefields/military parks and 18 national preserves. It also oversees sites on the National Register of Historic Places and sites considered National Historic Landmarks and National Trails. We have collaborated with NPS on many types of properties.

National Parks

Hawai'i: Haleakala National Park

In January 2008, the National Park Service requested our help in acquiring land within Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. Our efforts expanded the park by more than 4,100 acres and opened land for public enjoyment for the first time in more than 100 years. The property, a former ranch, adds almost a mile of frontage on the Pacific Ocean and rises more than 6,000 feet to the rim of the Haleakala Crater.

The park preserves Haleakala Volcano, fragile native Hawaiian ecosystems, rare and endangered species and numerous cultural sites. It extends from the Kipahulu area at sea level to 10,023 feet in elevation at its highest point in the Summit area. It includes 30,183 acres, of which 24,719 acres are designated wilderness. The park preserves and protects a valuable part of our nation’s heritage and makes it available to approximately 1.7 million visitors each year for their enjoyment, understanding and appreciation.

To read more about the property and conservation of the park, click here.

Kaupo Gap, Maui/Photo: Conor Dupre-Neary

Colorado: Mesa Verde National Park

President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park more than 100 years ago, protecting historic cliff dwellings and other archaeological treasures left by the Ancestral Puebloans. With bipartisan support from Colorado's congressional delegation, in 2007 we assisted the National Park Service in adding 324 acres to the park, ensuring that visitors to Mesa Verde will enter the park through preserved and scenic land. Click here to visit Mesa Verde National Park's Web site.

(Photo: Alex E. Promios/Flickr)

Colorado: Black Canyon and Gunnison National Park

Dramatic rock formations, known as the Pinnacles, define Gunnison National Park's Black Canyon. In 2003, we protected a 1,480-acre inholding in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and Gunnison County—and with tremendous support from the National Park Service. The lands provide a scenic backdrop for the Curecanti National Recreation Area, home to bighorn sheep, elk and Gunnison sage grouse. Click here to visit the park's Web site.

Photo: NPS/Lisa Lynch

National Preserves

The National Park System includes 18 National Preserves. 

Texas: Big Thicket National Preserve

Established by Congress in 1974, Big Thicket was the first preserve in the National Park System. According to the park service: "Designation of Big Thicket as a national preserve created a different management concept for the National Park Service. Preserve status prevents further timber harvesting but allows oil and gas exploration, hunting, and trapping to continue." We have helped protect more than 41,600 acres at Big Thicket National Preserve, a unique area renowned as the "biological crossroads of North America."  Learn more.

Alabama: Little River Canyon National Preserve

Established in 1992, the Little River Canyon National Preserve features one of the nation's longest mountaintop rivers, the Little River, which flows along the rim of Lookout Mountain. In 2007, we partnered with The Nature Conservancy to preserve more than 80 acres of scenic lands along the eastern rim—nearly 500 feet above the gorge. The acquisition, made with key support from Fred and Alice Stanback Jr., is part of an ongoing effort led by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to protect the canyon's spectacular viewshed and to build the Little River Canyon National Preserve on behalf of the park service. Previously, we worked with private landowners to protect blufflands as an addition to this unique preserve. Click here to visit the preserve's Web site.

Alaska: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

Every spring and fall, hundreds of thousands of caribou migrate across the Alaskan wilderness. Their journey winds through the vast glacial valleys of the Brooks Range and follows the scenic John River. In 2007, we worked with the National Park Service to protect 80 acres of this traditional migration route, as an addition to the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.  Click here to visit the preserve's Web site.

Photo: Robert Glenn Ketchum

National Historic Sites, Battlefields & Military Parks

Fort Davis National Historic Site

Fort Davis originally was a frontier post in the fledgling Southwest and later was home to the Army’s first African-American troops – the famed Buffalo Soldiers. Currently, we are raising funds to protect a prominent bluff overlooking the Texas fort. To learn about how you can help and to see a photo gallery on the National Park Conservation Association's Web site click here.

Japanese American Internment Camp Sites

We are working closely with the National Park Service and other partners to conserve land at the site of three former camps: Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho, Topaz in Utah and Tule Lake in Northern California. In April 2008, we transferred one property that was part of Minidoka to the park service, which up until that point was not able to expand the property because available lands were outside the authorized boundary of the monument.

Click on the following links for more information about our work with the National Park Service to preserve Japanese American Internment Camp sites:

The Fund's Japanese-American Internment Camp Protection Initiative

December 2008 News Release: Tule Lake Segregation Center Becomes National Monument

Civil War Battlefield Campaign

With our partners, the Fund's Civil War Battlefield Campaign has protected historic sites through 73 projects in 13 states—more than 8,100 acres. We partnered with the park service to preserve several of these sites including Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and Bear Paw Battlefield in Montana. We added 200 acres to Bear Paw Battlefield, part of Nez Perce National Historical Park and Nez Perce National Historic Trail. The hallowed ground marks the site of the last battle of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

For a full list of projects, including those with the National Park Service, click here.

National Trails

The North Country National Scenic Trail

In 2006, we protected the "portal" to this National Scenic Trail, which is managed by the National Park Service. Stretching from North Dakota to Vermont, the North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest of the eight National Scenic Trails in the United States. We purchased 5,886 acres of working forestland from Wausau Paper and held it until the state of Wisconsin could secure funds to acquire it.  Click here for the trail's Web site.

Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Trail

We joined with a team of partners to help the National Park Service build support for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, which now promotes recreation, tourism and environmental protection in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Click here to read more about the establishment of this national trail.

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Initiative

In honor of the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, we embarked on a major campaign to commemorate the legendary journey by protecting open space, river corridors and resources associated with the passage. We helped to protect more than 25,000 acres of critical land along the Lewis and Clark Trail, which is managed by the National Park Service. In 2005, we preserved 1,000 acres for the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon and Washington. Click here to learn more.