EBS STAFF
On Feb. 29, the National Park Foundation and National Park Service announced a $40 million gift to improve housing for Yellowstone National Park employees. The investment will fund more than 70 new modular units, according to a Feb. 29 news release from the NPS.
The new units will address a critical shortage of employee housing, which the park says leads to more expensive options, a trend seen across U.S. communities. Because of this, park employees have to commute long distances between work and home, leading to difficulties in recruitment and retainment.
“This transformational gift will meet a critical need for new housing in Yellowstone, and be a catalyst for more philanthropic investment,” Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation stated. “These skilled, dedicated professionals at the National Park Service who protect our parks and make visitors’ experiences great deserve housing they can be proud to call home.”
Yellowstone’s housing part of national issue
Across the country, national parks are addressing housing scarcity and quality for their employees.
Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service, explains that each park will need to come up with unique solutions. “NPS is committed to innovative solutions that contribute to meeting the demand for employee housing across the National Park System,” Sams stated in the release. “I am incredibly grateful to the donors to the National Park Foundation whose tremendous generosity will help NPS address this critical need.”
The National Park Service employs 20,000 people across 429 parks in the U.S., the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. In total there are 5,600 housing facilities in more than 200 parks in varying age and size—from 100-year-old cabins to dormitories and duplexes.
According to the release, 15,600 employees reside in this housing, 2,800 of which are permanent and 5,000 of which are seasonal employees.
The NPF found that more than $115 million in funding is needed to add over 200 new employee housing units at Acadia, Yosemite and Grand Teton national parks.
“The current shortage of employee housing is the result of a combination of factors, including rising property values in communities surrounding parks and increasing demand for vacation rentals near national parks,” the release stated.
The $40 million gift for Yellowstone will allow the park to construct new housing, and meet current needs for its employees. The release stated that the funding will also provide a model to accelerate housing construction across U.S. national parks.
