News Release

Biden-Harris administration announces $15 million from Investing in America agenda to make our national parks more resilient to the climate crisis

Date: June 10, 2024
Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced a more than $15 million investment from President Biden's Investing in America agenda to build climate resilience, address climate change impacts, and restore healthy lands and waters at national parks and in surrounding communities across the country.  

With today's investment, the National Park Service has now issued all awards under a $210 million program from the Inflation Reduction Act to fund restoration and resilience projects in our National Parks. The previous $195 million in awards were announced in February 2024. These efforts are in line with the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal climate, clean energy, water and wastewater infrastructure, and other covered investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. 

“As our climate continues to change, it’s imperative that the National Park Service works to ensure our most treasured landscapes can adapt.” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “I’m thrilled to see these projects getting additional support, furthering our investment in America’s resilient future.” 

This additional funding will be used to expand the scope and reach of several projects that were initiated in February 2024 and will enable the National Park Service to continue work restoring grasslands, salt marshes, and sagebrush landscapes; advancing conservation partnerships in Appalachia; and protecting whitebark pines and Hawaiian forest birds. These investments advance the Department of the Interior’s Restoration and Resilience Framework, which is guiding an over $2 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act across bureaus and offices. Today’s announcement also supports the President’s America the Beautiful Initiative and advances the objectives of the National Climate Resilience Framework. 

Projects funded through todays announcement include:  

• $3 million to develop collaborative landscape conservation design in Appalachia  

• $3 million to implement landscape-scale restoration of eastern grasslands and forests to improve ecosystem health 

  $1.5 million to manage grasslands in the central U.S. for resilience in a changing climate  

• $3 million to control mosquitoes that carry avian malaria to prevent the extinction of forest birds in Hawaiˋi  

• $1.1 million to restore and enhance resilient sagebrush ecosystems in the Western U.S. 

• $2.5 million to conserve coastal marshes along the Atlantic coast  

• $500,000 to implement climate science actions to protect federally threatened whitebark pine 

• $525,000 to support a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey to develop protocols for evaluating and monitoring project outcomes  

Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the National Park Service is working to address the impacts of the climate crisis, including intensifying drought, wildfires, flooding and legacy pollution in national parks and on other public lands. These significant strategic investments are helping to repair critical facilities and infrastructure and enhance conservation through ecosystem restoration and recreation opportunities. 

More information and the full list of projects is available on the National Park Service’s website. 
 

www.nps.gov 
 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 429 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.