Our National Parks Need Sound Science

Meteorology equipment at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Photo credit: NPS/Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The National Park System’s breathtaking landscapes and cultural and historic sites serve as living laboratories for science and discovery that help safeguard our nation’s legacy. Yet today, conservation and research science that support national parks are threatened.

A legacy of scientific discovery

For over 100 years, the National Park Service has gathered data that provides valuable baseline information about the natural world. Our parks have been the seat of pivotal scientific research that has forever changed how we understand our world.

Yet today, the role of science in national parks is under threat and is being rapidly eroded in ways that are profoundly harming parks. Recent policies and actions have led to devastating staff losses, freezing of funds critical for scientific research and efforts to keep ecosystems resilient, and the impending closure of vital research hubs and centers.

Read more about the 1916 Organic Act, and the importance of funding science here: 

https://www.npca.org/articles/7736-our-national-parks-need-sound-science#:~:text=National%20Park%20Service%20scientists%2C%20who,validity%20of%20air%20pollution%20data.