Stephen T. Mather, first National Park Service Director, with Horace M. Albright, Superintendent of Yellowstone, on a camping trip in the 1920's. NPS photo.
A number of universities in our country have contributed invaluable support for the National Park Service through research and ideas, and such ties with University of California, Berkeley, are especially significant. An upcoming summit, “Science for Parks, Parks for Science: The Next Century,” will be held March 25-27 on the Berkeley campus, and the plenary sessions will be live-streamed at this link.
The date chosen for the event is historically significant. According to a UC spokesperson, this week's sessions will occur "exactly a century after an historic conference at Cal brought together scientists, conservationists and park leaders to focus on the need for a federal agency to manage park science, stewardship and public engagement. The March 1915 gathering catalyzed the formation of the National Park Service (NPS) one year later."
In March of 1915, two Cal alumni—Stephen Mather, class of 1887, and his assistant Horace Albright, class of 1912—convened scientists, governmental leaders and park superintendents for a conference at UC Berkeley about the need to establish a federal agency to manage the growing number of national parks designated by Congress, and to promote the development of future parks.
Mather and Albright led discussions on then-progressive concepts such as development of in-park lodging to connect people with the parks—arguably the country’s first ecotourism; stewardship of park lands; and management of park wildlife. A year later, Congress passed legislation that established the National Park Service. Mather and Albright went on to serve as the first two NPS directors, guiding the agency’s early development. The upcoming conference will build on the past to look to the future of the NPS.
Harvard Research Professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize–winner Edward O. Wilson, will present the keynote address, “Setting Aside Half the World for the Rest of Life.”
The March 25 opening ceremony will also include remarks by Save the Redwoods President Sam Hodder and Parks Forward Commissioner Caryl Hart. E. O. Wilson’s March 26 keynote inaugurates a scientific program of 16 plenary lectures by leading natural, physical and social scientists addressing issues critical to the future of the parks and the planet. You'll find a complete description of the sessions and speakers at this link.
“The national park system and public higher education are two of our country’s greatest inventions, and when we join together in a scientific alliance, the benefits to society are enormous,” Chancellor Dirks said. “This summit’s focus on the future is so important—not just for continued public engagement with the natural world, but also to understand the environmental changes unfolding around us so we can work to protect and preserve the planet.”
While conference attendance is open to registrants only, the plenary sessions will be live-streamed at parksforscience.berkeley.edu to enable virtual participation by National Park Service employees and the public.
The proceedings will also include the free public program “America’s Two Best Ideas: Public Education and Public Lands,” with Secretary Jewell, UC President Janet Napolitano, environmental historian Douglas Brinkley, and KQED Forum’s Michael Krasny.
That event is being presented by the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources as its spring 2015 Horace Albright Lecture in Conservation. The program is held March 26 at 7 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium and will also be live-streamed on the conference website. http://parksforscience.berkeley.edu/
More details about the summit, including registration information, are available here. A number of other UC Berkley alumnni had key roles in the early years of the NPS. Some of them are mentioned and shown in several old photos in this story in the university's alumni magazine.
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