The Biden-Harris administration submitted a $3.57 billion National Park Service budget to Congress for fiscal year 2025 — one that includes modest, targeted funding increases and would provide for federal employee pay requirements, and critical capacity and support for law enforcement.

The budget proposal supports fundamental day-to-day operational needs at all parks, rivers, and trails and addresses staffing needs for new responsibilities. Critically, the proposal invests more than $100 million in housing needs for NPS employees across multiple fund sources. Housing for employees in and near national parks is increasingly scarce and expensive, reflecting a trend impacting communities across the country, creating long commutes and making it difficult for NPS to recruit and retain employees. 

“This request speaks to the heart of what the National Park Service does every day, ensuring Americans and visitors from around the world are able to benefit from the resources we protect while working within the budget constraints we face today,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said.

The budget proposal also supports increased funding for regular cyclic maintenance, essential in preventing future, more expensive, deferred maintenance costs. It also invests in essential information technology systems.

Specific notable investments made in the FY 2025 budget request include:

• More than $100 million in housing needs for NPS employees across multiple fund sources
• Continued start-up costs for parks recently added to the National Park System, like Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Historic Site, Blackwell School National Historic Site, New Philadelphia National Historic Site, the Summerton Site expansion at Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, and Amache National Historic Site
• Implementing important new requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
• Funding for cyclic maintenance to prevent future deferred maintenance
• Supporting youth corps programs that create enriching jobs for young people
• Assessing climate change vulnerabilities so the national parks and their supporting infrastructure can adapt

The National Park Service is intended to help connect Americans to their past and serve as a critical driver of economic activity for small businesses and communities across the nation. The National Park Service welcomed 325.5 million visitors in 2023; in 2022, visitors spent $23.9 billion in local park gateway areas.

The FY 2025 budget also allocates funding for transformative infrastructure investments under the Great American Outdoors Act, which authorized up to $6.65 billion for the NPS over five years to address crucial and long needed maintenance backlog and repair projects in national parks.

By the Numbers

Operation of the National Park System: This is the primary operations funding for the National Park Service and the 2025 budget includes $3.09 billion broken out as follows:

• $431.0 million for resource stewardship
• $299.5 million for visitor services
• $456.6 million for park protection
• $974.0 million for facility operations and maintenance
• $709.7 million for park support
• $219.5 million for external administrative costs

Construction: Funds construction projects, equipment replacement, and management and the 2025 budget includes $237.2 million broken out as follows:

• $124.7 million for line-item construction
• $41.9 million for special programs, including $16.9 million for housing improvement
• $15.2 million for construction planning
• $37.7 million for construction management and operations
• $17.7 million for management planning

Historic Preservation Fund: Supports Historic Preservation Offices in States, Territories, and Tribal lands to preserve historically and culturally significant sites and provides competitive grants to other entities. The 2025 budget includes $151.4 million for these programs broken out as follows:

• $62.2 million for grants to State Historic Preservation Offices
• $23.0 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices
• $2.5 million for Tribal Heritage Grants
• $11.0 million for grants-in-aid to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• $12.5 million for Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants
• $30.3 million for competitive grants to preserve historic sites
• $10.0 million for Save America’s Treasures grants