U.S. National Park Service

Bison grazing in a wide open meadow in Yellowstone National Park for an article about national park grant access, for article on National Park Foundation grant

National Park Foundation receives largest grant in its history to expand access

By / / Good News For Humankind

A record-breaking national park grant is bringing new momentum to America’s public lands. Lilly Endowment Inc. has donated 00 million to the National Park Foundation — the largest private gift ever made to the U.S. national park system and the biggest in the foundation’s nearly 60-year history. The funds will expand access for young people from underserved communities, protect threatened wildlife and ecosystems, and amplify the historically overlooked stories of Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, and other communities within park sites. The gift signals a meaningful shift in who national parks are understood to serve.

Tall old-growth redwood trees in northern California for an article about Yurok Tribe land return, for article on tribal co-management

Yurok Tribe becomes first Native people to co-manage land with the National Park Service

By / / Good News For Humankind

Yurok Tribe land return marks a historic milestone as the tribe reclaims 125 acres of ancestral territory and becomes the first Native nation to formally co-manage land alongside the National Park Service. The agreement returns the parcel known as ‘O Rew, near Orick in Humboldt County, after more than a century of displacement that stripped the Yurok of roughly 90% of their homeland. Ecological restoration is already underway, with thousands of juvenile salmon returning to a rebuilt Prairie Creek. The deal reflects a growing Land Back movement and sets a new precedent for Indigenous stewardship of public lands.