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Oct 12, 2025by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Our OBX National Parks Need Your Support – Outer Banks National Parks

Our Outer Banks National Parks Need Your Help: Now More Than Ever

Thank you for being a supporter of our Outer Banks national parks! We’re so grateful for people like you who understand how important it is to protect and enhance these special places, now and for future generations.

As you’ve seen in the news, the government has shut down due to a lapse in federal appropriations. While the Department of the Interior has issued a contingency plan which directs national park sites to remain mostly open, our parks will be operating with significantly less staff and visitor resources. At this time, we do not know how long the shutdown may last.

Recently, the National Park Service released its 2024 Visitor Spending Effects Report. Nearly 3.5 million visitors spent close to $698 million in the communities around our three Outer Banks national parks in 2024, supporting more than 7,500 jobs, generating approximately $296 million in labor income and $913 million in economic output, while adding close to $526 million in value. Disruptions to our parks’ operations will have a direct effect on our broader Outer Banks community.

As someone who cares about our Outer Banks national parks, you know our parks are not immune to the challenges facing many other national parks today — severe beach erosion and threatened oceanfront structures, wear and tear from the high volume of visitors, and limited or lapsed federal funding are impacting these treasured places. Our parks need your help now more than ever.

Here’s how you can help our national parks today:

Donate: Outer Banks Forever is the official nonprofit partner of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial. By raising funds for these special places, we help protect and enhance them, now and forever. Your donation – of any amount – supports the projects, programs, and people that make our Outer Banks national parks the best they can be! If you’d like to give a gift to support our parks, please click here.

Shop online: You can support our Outer Banks national parks by shopping our online store! Your purchase ensures that future generations continue to learn and create memories in the Outer Banks through history, conservation, and the celebration of innovation.

Say thank you: Our Outer Banks national park staff and volunteers work diligently to provide you with the margin of excellence you have come to expect when visiting these amazing places. We encourage you to thank our national park staff and volunteers for helping to protect our parks and park visitors. If you’d like to share a favorite Outer Banks national park memory, a story of how our park staff and volunteers have impacted your visit, or how our parks have made a difference in your life and the lives of your loved ones, click here.

Stay informed: Look for our emails in your inbox and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to stay up to date with Outer Banks national park happenings. We will share information about the government shutdown and its impact on our parks as we receive it.

Thank you again for your support of our Outer Banks national parks. We can’t do what we do without people like you!

With gratitude,

Bryan Burhans, Director
Nicole Erickson, Development & Adoption Programs Manager
Rachael Graf, Community Engagement Coordinator
Outer Banks Forever

Photo Credit: Dottie Di Liddo – Unsplash

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