US President Barack Obama’s budget request for the fiscal year 2016 has included US$3bn (€2.7bn, £2.1bn) for the National Park Service’s (NPS) critical conservation, preservation and recreation mission.

Obama, whose presidency is set to end on 20 January 2017, has looked to boost the NPS budget by US$432.9m (€387.2m, £298.9m) in his request to fund essential programmes and operational needs at national parks across the US.

The funding boost would be welcome for America’s national parks, which are among the world's most visited but also the least supported in terms of return on investment. A 2015 study valued the world’s national parks and nature reserves at around US$600bn annually. Of the 10 most-visited sites worldwide, five were in the US.

2016 marks the centennial year of the NPS. According to the NPS, for every dollar appropriated to the bureau in the 2016 budget, US$10 (€9bn, £7) would be returned to the US economy in the form of visitor spending, travel and tourism and construction jobs.

The budget proposal would provide targeted increases for NOS’s Centennial Initiative, a multi-year effort to support the preservation of America's natural, cultural and historic treasures, invest in the National Park System's most important assets, expand the use of parks for learning and recreation and to engage its 60,000 volunteers across its parks.

"In 2016, the National Park Service will celebrate its Centennial by inviting hundreds of millions of Americans to find their park by visiting one and sharing their favourite park story," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "This budget will prepare the National Park Service to ensure that every one of those visitors has a wonderful and safe experience."

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