The National Parks System is sometimes described as “America’s best idea” (a term coined by that Ken Burns miniseries?) and I think that the answer to keep it going strong is pretty simple: just keep paying for it with taxes. It’s one part of the Federal Budget that’s totally worth it!
And FWIW the annual parks budget is currently about $3.1 billion, so this donation from Big Pharma would be about 3% of that. Welcome funding that I hope will be put to good use, but when was the last time that a 3% budget increase was considered to be “transformative?” And if that gift comes with any strings attached, such as signage saying “made possible by a generous grant from…” then the government should say “thanks but no thanks.” The National Parks belong to all of us and we should never come to rely on the largesse of corporate donors in order to enjoy them.
Edit to add: you know what really would be transformative? Taxing companies like Eli Lilly appropriately and actually making them pay what they owe. The elaborate tax avoidance shenanigans that Eli Lilly has engaged in has cost the US Treasury billions, so excuse me for failing to be impressed with this $100M “gift.”
