Voices of Experience, Advocating the Protection of America's National Parks

It may seem too early for winter scenes, but a Federal Judge's ruling on September 15 should mean a cleaner and quieter Yellowstone National Park during upcoming winters. See story below. Photo by Jon Catton.

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In May, 2003, three former high-ranking National Park Service employees spoke at a press conference in Washington DC against actions being taken by political leaders that were having detrimental effects on the National Park Service and the National Park System. At the same time, a letter was sent to President Bush and Interior Secretary Norton, signed by 20 NPS retirees, voicing similar concerns. Since that time, more than 665 additional former NPS employees, many of whom were senior managers of the agency, have joined the Coalition to monitor and respond to the decisions and actions of the political leadership of the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. In a number of ways, the Coalition is also working to support the mission of the National Park System and the employees who carry it out. We have developed this website as a way to voice our concerns about legislative and policy decisions and their related activities that we feel diminish the values and purposes for which the National Park System was established and to help educate the American public about its values and benefits.

Featured Stories

Holes of private lands that originally were intended to be part of a park system unit but which Congress didn't provide funds to purchase could be commercially developed Read More

National Park Service officials at Golden Gate National Recreation Area long have allowed their resources to be marketed as “Golden Gate National Parks,” even though Golden Gate never has been designated as a “national park.” Read More


How many “national parks” are there? Are there nearly 400, or just 58? That’s a good question, for while the National Park Service claims 391 “units,” officially there are only 58 “national parks.” Read More

In 2016, the NPS will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The CNPSR has suggestions for centennial success. Read More



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If we are going to succeed in preserving the greatness of the national parks, they must be held inviolate. They represent the last stands of primitive America. If we are going to whittle away at them we should recognize, at the very beginning, that all such whittlings are cumulative, and that the end result will be mediocrity.
~ Newton B. Drury, Director, National Park Service, August 20, 1940 - March 31, 1951