The National Park Service stewards more than 85 million acres of extraordinary landscapes across America’s national parks. Over 2 million acres, located within park boundaries, remain privately owned. These lands, unprotected from development, are prioritized for acquisition by NPS as willing sellers emerge. As NPS’ philanthropic partner, the National Park Foundation plays a key role in the acquisition of high-priority lands and historic places.
To accelerate NPS’ ability to obtain and safeguard priority parcels in a competitive real estate market, NPF has established the Revolving Loan Fund. Through the Fund, NPF provides low-interest loans to nonprofit conservation organizations and other park partners to quickly purchase key properties. This gives NPS ample time to secure federal funds (often over a three-year period) without fear of losing these sites. Once NPS purchases the land from the conservation partners, the proceeds from the final sale “revolve” back to the Revolving Loan Fund, so the cycle can repeat as new properties become available for sale, and the philanthropic dollars in the Fund can continue to generate impact.
While other agencies benefit from having revolving funds, there was no such dedicated fund to support national parks before the recent establishment of the Revolving Loan Fund.
From granting funds to acquisition partners, to directly buying and transferring land to NPS, NPF has advanced signature projects such as the establishment of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, and the preservation of the iconic Antelope Flats at Grand Teton, protecting exceptional sites like these indefinitely for future generations.
Over the last decade, NPF has protected over 30,000 acres in 62 national parks and supported the establishment of eight new parks. In addition, NPF has granted over $25M to protect and preserve some of our nation’s most precious spaces through its Land Conservation Program.
