The Centennial anniversary year of the National Park Service is closing out with a historic marker: the passage of the National Park Service Centennial Act. This important legislation passed both chambers of Congress with broad bipartisan support.
The National Park Service Centennial Act will help protect our parks and ensure more youth can enjoy them, and it establishes an endowment to build long-term support for our national parks. The bill advances key initiatives that support park projects and engagement opportunities for youth and volunteers, including the Centennial Challenge, Volunteers in the Parks, and the Public Land Corps, an important initiative that supports youth and young veterans working to protect and restore our public lands. This critical legislation does even more than provide monetary support for our parks; it demonstrates a love for our parks and public lands that transcends party lines. During a time of great divisiveness, one thing we can all agree on is that our parks should be protected, respected, and enjoyed by everyone -- especially our kids.
For 100 years, America’s parks have provided opportunities for people across the world to explore nature. What started with one park, Yellowstone National Park, has grown into an incredible nationwide system of protected public lands. Our national parks have served as a destination for road trips, picnics, and outdoor recreation. Our parks provide opportunities for both solitude and camaraderie, extreme adventures and quiet reflection. Our nation’s system of protected outdoor spaces has something for everyone, and they belong to everyone.
In celebration of the Centennial, Sierra Club Atlanta Inspiring Connections Outdoors led an educational hike with students as part of a cultural orientation program of the International Rescue Committee's Atlanta office.
The Sierra Club celebrated the Centennial of the National Park Service with hundreds of outings, events, and activities leading up to the 100th anniversary on August 25, 2016. Highlights included “Captain Fantastic” star Viggo Mortensen teaming up with the Sierra Club to celebrate the Centennial (en español), and a Give Back Day event with Sierra Club youth volunteers and celebrities, who came together for a service project in the Santa Monica Mountains. Centennial highlights also included an Instagram sweepstakes with stunning photographs submitted from across the country, and the Dan Chu Family Roadtrip blog, following the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America Director, Dan Chu, as his family shared experiences from a multiweek road trip visiting national parks and public lands across the country.
As we look ahead to the next 100 years, the Sierra Club is working to ensure that all Americans can enjoy the outdoors and see themselves as participants and stewards of our public lands. The passage of the National Park Service Centennial Act is an important step in our work to protect our national parks and connect people with the outdoors. Whether it’s the majestic lands surrounding the Grand Canyon or a neighborhood green space, the wild is where you find it, and we want everyone to be able to experience it.