Report Finds that National Park Service Control of DC Parks Exacerbates Inequities & Hinders Park Activation in Nation’s Capital

Image via GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health

For the past three years, the District of Columbia has been ranked as having the Number 1 park system in the United States. A new report by the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health counters this narrative with findings that park management by the National Park Service has resulted in great inequities in amenities, maintenance, and park access across the nation’s capital.

“The National Mall provides a striking impression for tourists, but head into any neighborhood park in the District and you’ll see crumbling infrastructure, trail overgrowth, trash, and no shortage of frustrated neighbors who are pleading for better management of their neighborhood parks,” Rachel Clark, the Redstone Center’s Policy Director and lead author of the report, said.

The Redstone Center’s qualitative research included dozens of interviews with community organizations, elected officials, and federal and local agency representatives who reported several circumstances that have led to the longstanding mismanagement of the park system. From $2 billion in deferred maintenance costs, to confusion as to who owns individual sites, to policies that prevent community-driven improvements, the report concludes that federal management of what is essentially a local park system isn’t working. Worse, it perpetuates health inequities across communities in DC.