SEEC Institute and The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks Release New Report Detailing Climate Change Impacts on America’s National Parks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 07/15/2025
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute (SEEC Institute) and the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks released a new report, America’s Best Idea in Peril: Climate Change and the Future of Our National Parks, outlining how climate change is reshaping the National Park System and proposing actionable solutions to safeguard them.
"The climate crisis is not coming — it is here. And our national parks are on the front lines," said Emily Thompson, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. "This report makes it clear that the time to debate is past. To save our parks and public lands we must act now, before it is too late."
The report paints a stark picture: climate change is already degrading nearly every unit of the National Park System. Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, wildfires, drought, and sea level rise are accelerating the ecological erosion of these iconic places that serve as bellwethers of a broader environmental crisis.
“We’re in a race for time,” said Rep. Mike Quigley, who has led Congressional trips to national parks for a decade, “and if you go to these places and talk to the people who are on the ground trying to solve this problem, it’s clear we’re falling behind. They need resources. The way I see it, it’s a straightforward proposition - either Congress acts, or our parks disappear.”
From coastal erosion in Acadia and the Everglades to ecosystem collapse in Yellowstone and increasingly intense wildfires in Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah, the climate crisis is leaving no place untouched. Building on the trips led by Rep. Quigley, SEEC Institute now leads annual congressional delegations to parks to witness these impacts firsthand and help strengthen policy responses in Washington.
“One thing that has been made crystal clear on each and every congressional trip is that no park is an island. They impact the surrounding landscapes and they are affected by what's happening around the world,” said Max Frankel, Executive Director of SEEC Institute. “SEEC Institute is proud to carry on the vital work started by Rep. Quigley to inform and empower Members of Congress to advance climate solutions that protect our public lands.”
Key Policy Solutions from the Report Include:
Reduce carbon pollution, save our parks — that simple: The essential solution to protecting our national parks from climate change is to go after the cause of climate change – carbon emissions.
Investing in sound science: Staffing shortages and inadequate funding prevent the National Park Service from conducting the research and resource management work necessary to ensure that, even in the face of a changing climate, our national parks remain “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Maintain federal land designations: If units of the National Park System — such as national recreation areas, national seashores, national battlefields, national historical parks, or national monuments — are unilaterally removed from the National Park System, they are no longer able to benefit from the resources and dedicated efforts of the only federal agency required by its authorizing legislation to think in terms of “ecologically forever.”
While this publication outlines significant challenges, it also sends a clear message: continued damage to our national parks is not inevitable if we act now. Without immediate solutions that address the drivers of climate change, we risk losing not only the lands themselves, but also the communities, ecosystems, and economies that depend on them.
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Media Contacts:
Pearson Croney-Clark
Director of External Affairs, SEEC Institute
pearson@seecinstitute.org
Doug Gordon
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
doug@upshiftstrategies.com