National Park Service Financial Structure and Revenue Sources

Introduction and Historical Background

This paper examines the financial structure of the National Park Service (NPS). It reviews the agency's operations, discussing how it generates revenue and manages its financing, and analyzes its financial performance alongside its organizational structure.

The NPS had its beginnings when Congress set aside the watershed of the Yellowstone River "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" with the Yellowstone National Park Act of 1872. The actual system of national parks administered under a federal bureau began with the creation of the NPS on August 25, 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act. Established under the U.S. Department of the Interior, the NPS was responsible for protecting the 40 national parks and monuments then in existence (Smith, 2011).

There was no single agency providing unified management of the varied federal parklands until an Executive Order in 1933 transferred 63 national monuments and military sites from the Forest Service and War Department to the NPS. This action was a significant step in the development of today's truly national system of parks — a system that includes areas of historical, cultural, scientific, and scenic importance. Currently, additions to the NPS are generally made through acts of Congress, and likewise national parks can be created only through such acts. The NPS today is made up of more than 380 areas covering more than 83 million acres in 49 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands (Smith, 2011).

Organizational Structure

The NPS operates under the executive branch of the U.S. Government, within the Department of the Interior. The department is headed by the Secretary of the Interior, a member of the President's Cabinet. Reporting to the Secretary is the NPS Director, whose headquarters are located in Washington, D.C. The Comptroller, who reports to the Director, oversees the following departments: Accounting Operations Center, Budget Formulation, Budget Execution, Budget Construction, Property Management, Audits and Accountability, and GSA Space (Headquarters Organization, 2005).

Budget and Appropriated Funding

The NPS develops a budget each February for the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The budget defines NPS goals and objectives as well as the funding necessary to accomplish them. The NPS budget is incorporated into the budget for the Department of the Interior, and then, along with the rest of the Executive Branch, is submitted to Congress for review and approval. The most recent funding and employee levels are as follows:

FY2011 (request): $3.14 billion, 21,501 employees
FY2010: $3.16 billion, 21,574 employees
FY2009: $2.92 billion, 20,876 employees (Budget, 2010)

Visitor Statistics and Entrance Fee Revenue

In addition to appropriated funds, the NPS is authorized to collect and retain revenue from specific sources: recreation fees (approximately $190 million per year), park concessions franchise fees (approximately $60 million per year), and filming and photography special use fees (approximately $1.2 million per year). An additional source of funds is provided by the National Park Foundation, the NPS's Congressionally chartered national philanthropic partner, which donates money, property, and time to the NPS (Budget, 2010).

NPS revenues derive primarily from park visitors. In 2010, the NPS hosted 281.3 million visitors, a decrease of 1.5% from 2009. The 2011 forecast projected an increase of 1.7% to 286.2 million visitors, with 2012 forecasts calling for a further 1% increase to 288.9 million guests (Public Use Statistics Office, 2011). A significant source of NPS revenues is entrance fees. Repanshek reports that entrance fee revenues across the NPS dipped slightly in 2010 compared with 2009, and NPS officials were uncertain as to what caused the decline (Repanshek, 2011).

In 2010, fees from park-specific passes, daily entrance fees, various interagency fees, and commercial fees totaled $125,776,233 — a decrease from $129,640,627 in 2009, according to figures tracked by Jan Moore, the NPS fee program manager in Washington, D.C. Only 139 of the NPS's 394 units collect entrance fees (Repanshek, 2011).