National Park Service

The Department of the Interior National Park Service, a civilian sub-agency that administers contracts and grants for park operations, visitor services, facility maintenance, and conservation programs across the National Park System, awarded 155,561 federal contracts with combined potential value of $21.25 billion since 1978 and obligated $6.84 billion in federal grant funding across 33,124 awards since 1999. Contract activity declined sharply from 5,143 awards in 2023 to 2,845 in 2026, with only 2 awards recorded to date in 2027; grant awards fell from 2,184 in 2024 to 48 in 2026. The most recent contract award is recorded at 2027-09-22 (10 months 4 weeks after today), and the most recent grant award closed on 2026-05-01.

Competitive concentration in contract awards is highly fragmented, with Countertrade Products, Inc. leading by count at 673 awards over the last five years but capturing only $31.7 million in potential value; the top five contractors by award count hold 7 percent of recent awards. By combined potential value, HDR Engineering, Inc. leads at $68.9 million across 82 awards, followed by Otak, Inc. at $47.9 million across 112 awards. The agency works with 31,304 distinct prime contractors across its portfolio. Contract set-asides are dominated by open competition—66 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation—with 27 percent awarded to small businesses (total small business category), 3 percent to 8(a) sole-source firms, and smaller shares to emerging small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone, and other socioeconomic categories.

Grant recipients are concentrated among conservation and workforce-development nonprofits and state natural-resource agencies. By award count over the last five years, American Conservation Experience leads at 398 awards ($44 million federal dollars), The Student Conservation Association, Inc. at 363 awards ($26.7 million), and Conservation Legacy at 316 awards ($73.2 million). By federal dollars obligated, California Department Of Parks & Recreation dominates at $237.2 million across 71 awards, Texas Parks And Wildlife Department at $130.3 million across 93 awards, and Virginia Department Of Conservation And Recreation at $74.6 million across 57 awards. The agency funds 2,994 distinct grant recipients. Grants flow primarily through Cooperative Agreements (57 percent of awards), Project Grants (34 percent), and Formula Grants (9 percent). Combined non-federal cost-share across the grant portfolio adds $4.98 billion to the $6.84 billion federal share.

Recent contract opportunities span park operations, facility rehabilitation, and visitor services. Solicitation CC-GLBA035-27 for kayak rental concession services at Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve closes December 28, 2026. Solicitation 140P2026R0091 for rainshed and water treatment system rehabilitation at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closes November 6, 2026. Solicitation 140P2026R0098 for cabin rehabilitation at Grand Teton National Park, issued as a total small business set-aside, closes November 20, 2026. Amendment 1 to solicitation LAKE004-27 for guided water tours, food and beverage, and retail services at Lake Mead National Recreation Area extended the proposal deadline to January 21, 2027.

Recent grant opportunities include cooperative agreement P26AS00055 for the National Parks Business Plan Internship program, open to state, local, and tribal governments, public entities, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations, closing January 4, 2027. Grant opportunity P27AS00032 for outdoor and heritage tourism in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, limited to projects within the watershed and requiring applicant membership in the Chesapeake Gateways Network, closes November 4, 2026.

The National Park Service cares for the more than 400 national parks in the U.S. The National Park Service also partners with local communities to assist in historic preservaton and the creation and maintenance of recreational spaces.