
- 26
- 06
- 2025
- Category:
- Service & Advocacy
Support for National Parks as Trustee Emeritus of the National Park Foundation
by David Evans Shaw
I had the privilege of serving as a Trustee of the US National Park Foundation from 2011 to 2016 via appointment by President Obama. My term on this board coincided with preparation for celebrating the US National Park Service centennial in 2016. Our work included informative visits to many national parks and fund raising for hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the centennial. One of my contributions was the creation and funding of the Second Century Stewardship program to support science and education in national parks. That program has become a model for the opportunity of engaging parks as classrooms and laboratories. The lens of science is a powerful means to inform park policy decisions and to educate the public about our natural and cultural world.



In conjunction with a National Park Foundation board meeting in 2013, I had the opportunity to experience the amazing natural beauty of Zion National Park. This park hosts millions of visitors annually and, like many other parks, is facing a funding and staffing crisis. US national parks are special places, attracting more that 300 million visits annual, and they deserve our support. I’m happy to share this video from a visit to Zion, as inspiration for that support: