Protecting public lands.

The benefits of protecting public lands are numerous, including ecological, economic and social advantages. Public lands support healthy ecosystems, contribute to local and national economies, and provide recreational and educational opportunities for the public.

HISTORY: 'Native American people lived on and cared for the land for millennia––and still do. What we call public land was home to a vast array of Indigenous cultures long before it was ever designated as a park or monument or refuge. In many cases our public lands, including iconic national parks like Yosemite and Glacier and Yellowstone, were created through dispossession via the forced removal of the Indigenous people who lived there.

In the late 1700s and through the 1800s, the federal government took Native lands directly and also acquired vast tracts of land from other colonial powers, such as Spain and France. Over time, much of this land was transferred to state and private ownership, but the federal government still manages 640 million acres. This land is held in trust for the American people, and primarily managed by four agencies: the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States Forest Service (USFS), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). A small share of federal land is managed by the Department of Defense and other agencies. The remaining 199 million acres of public land is managed by state and local agencies.' (Publiclands.com, 2025)

Drill, baby, drill. Public lands face increasing threats from private interests including gas and oil companies as well as the timber industry. The desire to extract our country's natural resources for private profit can cause irreplaceable damage and at the expense of future generations. Protecting public lands has never been more important and the simple act of visiting our National Parks and Preserves, National Wildlife Refuges, National Conservation Areas, Monuments, and other wilderness and recreational areas can make a big difference.

Vote. To find out if your local representatives support public lands, visit the National Parks Action Fund Scorecard released annually where you can search by address and zip code.