People United for Parks

People United for Parks (PUP) was launched shortly after the airing of the Ken Burns documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," in October 2009. PUP is premised on the conviction that National Parks are a great idea and that Americans want and should have more of them. With its dual mandate of preservation and recreation— a mandate unique among federal land management agencies, the National Park Service manages a system treasured by the American people as safeguarding our natural and cultural legacy for recreation, education, and inspiration, and as essential for sustainable ecosystems, civic societies, and communities.

Yet the National Park System is far from complete. Despite its universal popularity, expansion of the System has stalled. Since 1980, fewer than one unit a year on average has been added to the system, most of which are small historic parks rather than large natural landscapes.

Furthermore, as the National Parks Conservation Association-commissioned report on the next century of the Park System notes: "The National Park System has currently grown to nearly 400 units, but without scientific rationale or a process that follows a coherent strategy. A clear vision and strong criteria for inclusion in the system must now replace the ad hoc process that has characterized recent decades of system growth." (Emphasis added.)

Critical to rationalizing the expansion of the Park System is not just scientific input but public input. A groundswell of support exists around national parks--both existing and potential parks; hundreds of groups and individuals are clamoring for special places and stories to be included and protected in the Park System. PUP was formed to wage a national campaign for more parks by bringing those voices to DC policymakers in Congress and the Administration—voices whose collective strength have not been heard in Washington. The current system of park designation provides little meaningful opportunity for prioritizing places for study and inclusion in the System, or conveying popular support. With changes in the Administration and in Congress, now is a propitious time to expand the system and to do so in a strategic, visionary, and inclusive way. PUP aims to organize these disparate voices to change the criteria and processes for, and the pace of, national park study and designation—and to get 50 new parks created by 2016, the year of the Park Service Centennial.