The National Park Service
Summary
NPS runs on $5.04 billion in FY2026 budget authority and 16,039 full-time-equivalent employees -- about $14.73 per U.S. resident -- managing 433 units and 85 million acres that drew 323 million visits in 2025, even through a 43-day government shutdown.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
NPS manages 433 individual units⧉ covering more than 85 million acres across all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories. In 2025 the system logged 323,014,305 recreation visits⧉ across the 406 units that report visitation, including more than 13 million overnight stays, with 26 parks setting new records despite that year's 43-day partial government shutdown. Its Facility Operations and Maintenance program, the largest slice of its FY2026 operating budget, keeps roads, trails, campgrounds, and buildings open; its Park Police and rangers handle law enforcement and public-health protection system-wide.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $5.04 billion⧉ in FY2026 budget authority for NPS: $3.27 billion in annual current appropriations plus $1.77 billion in permanent funding from recreation fees, concessioner fees, and other dedicated accounts, up 8.3% from FY2025's $4.65 billion actual. That funds 16,039 full-time-equivalent employees, down 13.5% from 18,541 in FY2025. Against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, that works out to $14.73 per person, per U.S. resident.
View data as table
| Facility Operations & Maintenance | 945.2 | roads, trails, buildings, campgrounds |
|---|---|---|
| Park Support | 652.2 | management, supervision, partnerships |
| Park Protection | 426.1 | law enforcement, U.S. Park Police, public health |
| Resource Stewardship | 398.8 | natural, cultural, historical resource protection |
| Visitor Services | 277.6 | interpretive programs, commercial-services management |
| External Administrative Costs | 201.2 | centrally managed, mandated by other agencies |
Why is it good for society?
By the late 1880s, unregulated hunting had reduced Yellowstone's wild bison to about two dozen animals hiding in Pelican Valley⧉. In 1902, park management purchased 21 bison from private herds and raised them at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, interbreeding the captive stock with the wild remnant; by 1954 the combined herd had grown to roughly 1,300 animals, and under the Interagency Bison Management Plan the population has since ranged between 2,400 and 6,000, one of the first successful wildlife-restoration programs run inside a park the agency itself manages.
- NPS's FY2026 enacted budget works out to $14.73 per U.S. resident -- $5.04 billion running 433 park units on 16,039 , down 13.5% from FY2025's headcount.
- Yellowstone's bison herd was reduced to about two dozen animals by the 1880s; the park's 1902 captive-breeding program at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, continued by NPS since 1916, is why 2,400-6,000 roam the park today.
Your handles.* Report suspicious activity or resource damage at any park through the NPS-wide Tip Line⧉ (888-653-0009, online form, or nps_isb@nps.gov -- anonymous reporting accepted). Comment on a park's planning or environmental-review documents through NPS's Planning, Environment and Public Comment system⧉. To report fraud, waste, or mismanagement at NPS itself, contact the Interior Department Inspector General's hotline⧉ (1-800-424-5081).
Sources(9) ▾
- U.S. Government Publishing Office (Statutes at Large), National Park Service Organic Act (Public No. 235, 39 Stat. 535) (1916-08-25) — The founding statute itself, as published in the official Statutes at Large -- the enacting clause establishing the Service and the purpose clause ('conserve the scenery... leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations'), read directly from the scanned page image and cited for this entry's identity clause. archive.org's live-save endpoint (web.archive.org/save/...) was unreachable on the one probe attempted at access time, and the Wayback availability API returned no existing snapshot for this URL; the direct govinfo.gov link is used as the capture per non-blocking hazard handling. govinfo.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Budget Justifications and Performance Information, Fiscal Year 2027 -- National Park Service (2026-04-01) — NPS's own FY2027 congressional budget submission -- the most current dated document showing FY2026 ENACTED total budget authority and (current appropriations plus permanent/fee-funded appropriations combined), the FY2026 enacted breakdown of the Operation of the National Park System account by function, and workload facts. Source for this entry's budget and KPIs and the figure dataset. Wayback capture unavailable at access time (no existing snapshot; archive.org's live-save endpoint was unreachable on the one probe attempted); direct file link used as capture per non-blocking hazard handling. doi.gov · original document
- U.S. National Park Service, National Park System (About Us) (2026-07-16) — NPS's own descriptive page for the National Park System -- source for the system's unit count (433) and total acreage (85+ million acres). Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct nps.gov link used as capture. nps.gov · original document
- U.S. National Park Service, Office of Communications, Public Interest in National Parks Remains Strong as Visits Top 323 Million in 2025 (2026-03-13) — NPS's own official 2025 annual visitation announcement -- source for this entry's workload figures: 323,014,305 recreation visits across 406 reporting units, 13+ million overnight stays, 26 parks setting new records, and the 43-day partial government shutdown context. Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct nps.gov link used as capture. nps.gov · original document
- U.S. National Park Service, History of Bison Management in Yellowstone (2026-07-16) — NPS's own official history of Yellowstone bison management -- source for this entry's 'why is it good for society' counterfactual: the herd's collapse to about two dozen animals by the late 1880s, the 1902 captive-breeding purchase and Lamar Buffalo Ranch program, the 1954 recovery to roughly 1,300 animals, and today's Interagency Bison Management Plan range (2,400-6,000). Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct nps.gov link used as capture. nps.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. Same figure and archived capture already used in the good-citizen-doe entry. census.gov · original document
- U.S. National Park Service, Submit a Tip -- NPS Investigative Services Branch (2026-07-16) — NPS's own standing tip-reporting page -- source for this entry's 'Your handles' block: the NPS-wide Tip Line (888-653-0009), online form, and nps_isb@nps.gov, with anonymous reporting accepted. Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct nps.gov link used as capture. nps.gov · original document
- U.S. National Park Service, Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) (2026-07-16) — NPS's own standing public-comment portal for park planning and environmental-review documents -- source for this entry's 'Your handles' block. Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct nps.gov link used as capture. parkplanning.nps.gov · original document
- Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of the Interior, OIG Hotline Forms (2026-07-16) — The Interior 's own hotline page (phone 1-800-424-5081) for reporting fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement at NPS and other Interior bureaus -- source for this entry's third 'Your handles' link. The domain would not resolve via this session's fetch tool (DNS failure); its existence, phone number, and purpose were independently corroborated via web search results quoting the live page and via oversight.gov's listing of DOI . Disclosed transparently: this document was NOT read directly this session, only corroborated via search snippets -- graded B2 rather than A1 for that reason, and no verbatim quote is used from it in the article body, only the handle link and phone number. doioig.gov · original document
Comments
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Congress created the National Park Service in the Organic Act of 1916⧉ (Public No. 235, 39 Stat. 535), signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916, establishing "in the Department of the Interior a service to be called the National Park Service" to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life" in the nation's parks and "leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." NPS sits inside the Department of the Interior, headquartered in the Main Interior Building, under a director appointed by the Interior Secretary.