There are a wide variety of national and even international groups that help support America's National Parks. Some support the parks exclusively while others do so as part of a broader mission. These are the group we admire, support and believe are making a positive difference.

National Parks Conservation Association
The National Parks Conservation Association is America's only private nonprofit organization dedicated solely to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the National Park System. NPCA was founded in 1919 and today has more than 400,000 members.

National Park Trust
The National Park Trust is the land conservancy dedicated exclusively to preserving and protecting America's park lands, wildlife and historic monuments.  Think of them as the Nature Conservancy of the National Parks and you won't be too far off.  

The Trust's mission is to assist the National Park Service (NPS) and other state park agencies to: secure from willing sellers privately held property within authorized park boundaries; secure privately held property adjacent to parks; acquire land to create new parks.

Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is America's largest and oldest provider of national and community conservation service opportunities, outdoor education and career training for youth.  SCA volunteers and interns annually perform more than one million hours of conservation service in national parks, forests, refuges, and urban areas in all 50 states.

Association of National Park Rangers
The Association of National Park Rangers is an organization created to communicate for, about, and with park rangers and to promote and enhance the park ranger profession and its spirit.

National Association of Interpretation
The National Association for Interpretation (NAI) is dedicated to the advancement of the profession of interpretation (on-site informal education programs at parks, zoos, nature centers, museums, and aquaria). NAI has a rich history and currently serves 3,800 members in the United States, Canada, and twenty other nations.

Sierra Club
The Sierra Club has over 600,000 members. Their mission statement: Explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; Practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council's purpose is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends. They work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life -- air, land and water -- and to defend endangered natural places.

Rails-To-Trails Conservancy
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a 13-year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching America's communities and countryside by creating a nationwide network of public trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors.

American Trails
The mission of American Trails is to lead the nation toward the creation and implementation of a comprehensive trails infrastructure that meets the recreation, health, and travel needs of ALL Americans.

National Audubon Society
The mission of the National Audubon Society is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. Founded in 1905, the National Audubon Society is named for John James Audubon (1785-1851), famed ornithologist, explorer, and wildlife artist.

World Wildlife Fund
Known worldwide by its panda logo, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands. The largest privately supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has more than 1 million members in the U.S. alone. Since its inception in 1961, WWF has invested in over 13,100 projects in 157 countries.

The Land Trust Alliance
The Land Trust Alliance promotes voluntary land conservation and strengthens the land trust movement by providing the leadership, information, skills and resources land trusts need to conserve land for the benefit of communities and natural systems.

The Wilderness Society
Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect America's wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild lands through public education, scientific analysis and advocacy. Our goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and renewal that pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, chartered by Congress in 1949, is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. It fights to save historic buildings and the neighborhoods and landscapes they anchor. Through education and advocacy, the National Trust is revitalizing communities across the country and challenges citizens to create sensible plans for the future. It has six regional offices, 20 historic sites, and works with thousands of local community groups nationwide.

National Wildlife Federation
The mission of the National Wildlife Federation is to educate, inspire and assist individuals and organizations of diverse cultures to conserve wildlife and other natural resources and to protect the Earth's environment in order to achieve a peaceful, equitable and sustainable future.

Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth is a national environmental organization dedicated to preserving the health and diversity of the planet for future generations. As the largest international environmental network in the world with affiliates in 63 countries, Friends of the Earth empowers citizens to have an influential voice in decisions affecting their environment.

Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute (EII), founded in 1982 by veteran environmentalist David Brower, fosters the efforts of creative individuals by providing organizational support in developing projects for the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the global environment. EII provides activists the freedom to develop program ideas, supported by services to help them pursue those ideas, with a minimum of bureaucracy.