Fact Sheet:
National Park System

• The system contains 83.6 million acres, of which 4.3 million remain in private ownership
• Mission of Park System: “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."” This mission provides for both preservation and recreation.
• The FY2001 budget for the NPS is $2,428,973,000. There are several designations within the park system, all national park designations come through Congress except that of “National Monument”, which is declared by the President.
  • National Park—Large natural areas with a wide number of attributes. No fishing, mining, hunting, etc..
  • National Monument—Buildings or places on land owned or controlled by the federal government may be declared monuments by the President. (This was used by President Clinton at the end of his term to protect millions of acres of forest land)
  • National Preserve—National preserves are areas having characteristics associated with national parks, but in which Congress has permitted continued public hunting, trapping, oil/gas exploration and extraction. (Alaska National Wildlife Refugee for example)
  • National Recreation Area—Twelve National Recreation Areas (NRA) in the system are centered on large reservoirs and emphasize water-based recreation. Five other NRAs are located near major population centers. Such urban parks combine scarce
    open spaces with the preservation of significant historic resources and important natural areas in location that can provide outdoor recreation for large numbers of people. (Beaches provide all of the same things)
  • There are about 10 other designations.
• The National Park Service created a formula entitled the Monetary Generation Model (MGM), which it uses to estimate the benefits to the local economy that are created by National Parks and related federal expenditures. According to the Park Service, this data is used in the agency’s budget justification and also in planning and policy decisions.