Aiming to help preserve the National Park Service for another century, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2022 on July 19th. The bicameral, bipartisan legislation, originally introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Angus King (I-VT) and Steve Daines (R-MT), will now go to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
The National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act, if passed and signed into law, would build on the current National Park Service Centennial Act enacted by President Barack Obama in 2016. The new legislation would increase annual federal appropriations for the National Park Foundation from $5 million to $15 million through 2030. That funding would support maintenance projects at national parks, help the expansions of public private partnerships across national parks and find solutions to major challenges facing the parks, like overcrowding.
The National Park Foundation, the nonprofit affiliate of the National Park Service, plays a critical role in sustaining the national parks in the United States. The National Park Service maintains national gems like Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks, widely recognized for the beauty and cultural significance they bring to the country. Since 2018, the National Park Foundation has received $23 million in federal funding. Those funds have helped the National Park Service complete more than 100 projects in parks across the country.
Smith’s Commitment to Preserving the Black Experience At National Parks
Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, is an avid nature and history lover as well as a contributor to the National Park Foundation. Born and raised in Denver, he often recalls how a family trip to parks in Colorado connected him to his rich familial history in the state, including his grandmother’s trips to Lincoln Hills, a Rocky Mountains resort created by and for African Americans segregated from all-white spaces. Smith, in an interview with Will Shafroth, CEO of the National Park Foundation, told him he has “always felt a calling to preserve these spaces and share their stories with my community.” That calling led him to collaborate with the Fund II Foundation, where he is the founding director and President, to preserve the African American experience at national parks.
In 2019, Smith bought the birthplace and family home of civil rights luminary Martin Luther King Jr. to preserve it for the National Park Service; King’s birthplace and family home are now the Martin Luther King National Historic Park. Smith also supports more than a dozen projects across the national parks through the National Park Foundation’s African American Experience Fund and he was awarded the title of honorary Park Ranger for his contributions to preserve the Black experience in America’s national parks.
Smith supports other conservation organizations as well. His contributions to the Trail Foundation support the nonprofit’s efforts to preserve the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX. Smith is also the co-founder of Anglers of Honor, a charity striving to make therapeutic fly fishing more accessible for people with disabilities and their loved ones.
Learn more about the National Park Foundation’s African American Experience Fund.
