In festival of the 100th birthday of the National Park Service in 2016, America invites the world to notice the meaning of national parks to their lives and inspires people to both practice and become faithful to these special places.

On August 25, 2006 - the 90th birthday of the National Park Service – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne launched the National Park Centennial Initiative to plan national parks for another century of maintenance, preservation and pleasure. Since then the National Park Service asked citizens, park partners, and experts and other stakeholders what they envisioned for a second century of national parks.


A nationwide sequence of more than 40 listening sessions produced more than 6,000 comments that helped to shape five centenary goals. The goals and vision were accessible to President Bush and to the American people on May 31st in a report called The Future of America’s National Parks.

Every national park staff took their lead from this report and shaped local centennial strategies to describe their vision and desired accomplishments by 2016. This is just the 1st year, and there are many great things to come as the National Park Service prepares to celebrate 100 years!

To keep up with the Centennial Initiative and to knowledge the interactive story of The Future of America’s National Parks.