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NPS's Centennial 'Call to Action' Includes Opportunities for Yellowstone Association, Other Park Partners 

Looking ahead to its second century, the National Park Service is setting its goals as high as some of the mountains it protects. It wants to connect more people to the parks; work with partners including the Yellowstone Association to expand its education mission; preserve America's special places against climate change and other stressors by using the best science and scholarship in decision making; and enhance professional and organizational excellence. And it wants to do all this by its 100th birthday on August 25, 2016. The guiding document for this initiative, A Call to Action: Preparing for a Second Century of Stewardship and Engagement, outlines these four themes, plus 15 goals and 36 measurable actions.

Among the actions are expanding the use of parks for healthy outdoor recreation; better connecting urban dwellers to parks, in part by showcasing the parks through art; broadening diversity in programming, outreach, and hiring; promoting large landscape conservation and connections to support healthy ecosystems and cultural resources; and creating a new $1 billion endowment in partnership with park friends groups. On the education front, the plan calls for working with partners to expand NPS education programs and the use of parks as places of learning, especially for schoolchildren and teachers; and increasing the use of web and digital technology and social media. One goal specific to Yellowstone National Park calls for working with tribes, private landowners, and public land management agencies to restore three wild bison populations across the central and western United States.