Friday, April 17, 2015

NPS centennial aims to attract millennials, raise big money

Corbin Hiar, E&E reporter

In 1953, an influential magazine piece lamented that national parks were beginning to "go to hell" from a lack of maintenance and reluctantly called for closing many of the most popular sites.

That Harper's essay is credited with helping launch "Mission 66," the last major campaign to restore the park system, which was timed to coincide with the National Park Service's 50th anniversary.
Nearly half a century later, the service is still dogged by maintenance issues and budgets that supporters believe are inadequate to address them.

But it is also facing a new challenge: the need to connect with millennials -- a generation of potential visitors who are more comfortable in front of a screen than a sweeping vista.

To address these twin challenges, NPS this month launched a pair of landmark campaigns to promote its centennial celebration next year and to lay the groundwork for the service's next 100 years.

One effort will use social media, interactive kiosks and other digital tools to attract a more diverse range of visitors to parks. That awareness campaign will be funded by large corporate sponsors and be led by a major New York advertising agency.

The other push will be an unprecedented fundraising drive. It will include a specific list of projects donors can give to. It also will feature local events such as biological surveys or 100-mile hikes and bike rides, playing on the centennial theme.

The most visible component of the centennial effort is an awareness campaign encouraging Americans and international visitors to "Find Your Park." A website and social media campaign of the same name are attempting to connect the tech-savvy millenial generation to public lands.

The awareness campaign is something of a digital-first reimagining of the "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet" radio and television jingle that NPS co-opted to promote public lands during its Mission 66 effort, according to NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis.

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