About Our Turf

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By square footage, turf is the single largest facility asset managed by the National Park Service. In fact, we manage 395 million square feet of turf, which is equivalent to 7500 football fields. Across the nation, the NPS manages the turf or lawns in some of our nation's most special places and cultural landscapes. Through careful turf management practices developed over decades of experience and research, we manage many different types proprieties and various species of turf under a variety of conditions such as growing zones, coastal environments, and the growing threats of climate change, heavy visitor use, and the spread of non-native species.

Our turf management professionals take these complex factors in account and apply different management approaches on a site-by-site approach. This maximizes the effectiveness of our turf management practices, capitalizes on the benefit of sustainably managed turfgrass and ensures that the beauty of our turf contributes to our iconic and treasured landscapes.

What is Turf?

At its essence, turf is the top layer of soil supporting a ground cover mat of grasses. Some of those grasses include grasses including Tall Fescue (Festuca Arundinacea), Perrennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne), and Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis) as well as all native grasses.

Types of Turf Areas in the NPS

Turf areas vary greatly across the park system by function, asset value, species mix, and maintenance requirements. Turf may be valued as a facility asset, a natural resource, a cultural resource, or a combination of these, depending upon the situation. As a facility, turf may function as a durable ground surface for a picnic area or a ball field. As a natural resource, turf may be composed of native grass species that shelters wildlife. As a cultural resource, turf may be a historic feature of a cultural landscape that represents an earlier period of time. Some other examples of turf areas include:

• formal lawns
• recreational areas
• meadows and fields
• cemeteries
• battlefields
• farms
• putting greens
• orchards

Where is NPS Turf?

NPS properties ecompass three growing climates for turf: cool season, warm season, and the transition zone and completely span the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map.