Request for Qualifications:

The Future of America’s National Parks Consultant

National Parks Conservation Association

Due: Wednesday, November 25, 2026

To be awarded by Friday, January 8, 2027

Timeline: January 2027 through June 30, 2027

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is seeking a contractor to complete research and interviews to inform and create a report detailing changes to the National Park System since 2016 and recommendations from key stakeholders on national legislative, administrative, and agency level policy changes to guide the future of the National Park Service (NPS) and the cultural and natural landscapes in which they are located.

Project workflow: First, the contractor will document changes at the NPS, and in policies affecting national park resources, from the 2016 NPS Centennial to the present. Second, the contractor will gather informed individual perspectives on changes that may be needed at NPS and in related law and policy. Finally, the contractor will create a report, in collaboration with a tribal contractor completing a parallel analysis, detailing findings.

Capability statements from potential contractors are due to NPCA by November 25, 2026. This is a request for qualifications, not a request for proposals (see full project award timeline below). NPCA will share a detailed scope of work with shortlisted respondents for full project applications after they sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).

HIRING LEAD

John Adornato, 954-309-9307

NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION (NPCA)

Website:

www.npca.org

Mission:

To protect and enhance America’s National Park System for present and future generations.

Our Story:

With more than 1.6 million members and supporters beside us, we are the voice of America’s national parks since 1919, working to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for present and future generations. We celebrate the parks — and work tirelessly to defend them — whether on the ground, in the courtroom or on Capitol Hill.

From our national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and various locations nationwide, we call on our program and policy experts, committed volunteers, staff lobbyists, community organizers and communications specialists to inform and inspire the public and to influence decision makers to ensure that our national parks are well protected.

PROJECT SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES

Scope of work

The work will draw on three sources of information.

Policy change baseline: The contractor will review public records and prepare a 2016–2026 summary that details where key policy, funding, and staffing changes have occurred. Topics will include NPS staffing, congressional appropriations, deferred park maintenance, park visitation, natural and cultural resource conservation and programming, park use and access, and landscape-level conservation beyond park boundaries. This list is not exhaustive.

Confidential interviews: The contractor will conduct a substantial number of confidential interviews. Because confidentiality may determine whether some people participate, the contractor must use research practices appropriate for protecting identities and information.

Attributed interviews: The contractor will also conduct on-the-record interviews with NPCA staff, federal agency retirees, academics, partner and conservation organizations, gateway community representatives, and other external stakeholders. Interviewees may be quoted only with their consent.

Engagement with tribal nations will be contracted separately with an Indigenous-led firm working as a co-equal partner, not a subcontractor.

Product: The contractor will produce a detailed internal-facing report and a narrower public facing version. A separate public facing report highlighting Tribal perspectives will be produced in parallel. The report should detail what has changed since the 2016 NPS Centennial and what  is needed to conserve America’s national parks in the decade ahead. The contract will cover records collection, interview protocol design, recruitment of interviewees in collaboration with NPCA and its partners, interviews, analysis, writing and design of the report, and a presentation of findings to NPCA volunteers, staff, and board members. The report will be used by NPCA to inform our organizational advocacy agenda specific to the future of national parks, which is being developed separately.

PROJECT TIMELINE: NPCA expects preliminary findings to be ready for presentation by April 1, 2027. The final report is due June 4, 2027.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications

Respondents must demonstrate the following organizational capacity:

·       Documented ethical standards for research involving interviews.

·       Prior qualitative research with populations for whom confidentiality was material to participation.

·       Quantitative capability regarding complex changes in federal agency budgets, staffing, funding, and policy.

·       US-based secure data storage and documented data handling and retention procedures.

·       Experience with public sector or federal workforce research.

·       Experience interviewing organizational and community representatives on-the-record.

·       Willingness to work alongside a separately contracted tribal engagement partner that the respondent does not direct but will collaborate with throughout the project.

The report must be independent and able to withstand outside scrutiny. Therefore, project applicants may be asked to disclose all existing government contracts, cooperative agreements, and/or government grants that may conflict with or compromise the contractor’s independence on the relevant scope of work.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

What to submit

A capability statement of no more than five pages covering:

1.       Required qualifications

2.       Organizational background and whether your institution would require research board review (if so, please explain the associated process and timeline).

1.Overviews and resulting materials from at least two comparable engagements, described at whatever level of detail your confidentiality obligations permit.

2.Named personnel who would staff this work, with brief bios.

3.       A summary of your data security and records retention practices.

4.       Three references, with contact information.

5.       A general rate structure or prior similar project budget ranges.

Please identify the parts of the work your organization is best equipped to lead as well as any limitations we should consider.

Do not submit a full research proposal. Methodology and budget will be requested from shortlisted respondents against a detailed scope of work that will be provided to our shortlist of applicant firms.

CONTRACT AWARD TIMELINE

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Submit materials to John Adornato, jadornato@npca.org with the subject line: “RFQ – [Your Firm Name]. Send all questions to that address, and please do not contact other NPCA staff or board members about this solicitation. Shortlisted respondents must sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement before NPCA provides the detailed scope of work. If you make your submission on TrakStar please also notify John via email.