Op|Ed: Celebrate The Success, But Don't Stop Now

Editor's note: The following op-ed piece is from Kate Stevenson, who serves on the Executive Council of the Coalition to Protect American’s National Parks. The Coalition’s membership of over 1,100 current & former NPS employees represents over 30,000 years of experience managing and protecting National Parks.

It is no secret to anyone that the demographics of the United States are changing. In order for the national parks to remain relevant they need to represent the history and culture of all Americans and they need to attract Americans of every cultural background. The predominant culture represented in non-native history-based national parks is that of Americans of European descent. Not only are the current park visitors mostly of European descent, they are older Americans. Neither of these two facts is good news for a current and future park system that is vibrant and relevant. We propose an Executive Order and the appropriate funding to implement the steps described below.

I believe that a trilateral approach is needed to resolve this disparity and I give credit to the National Park Service (NPS) and to Presidents Bush and Obama for their actions thus far to address it. Both President Bush and President Obama have used their executive powers to designate national monuments and both presidents designated sites that have broad appeal. Most recently, President Obama designated Stonewall National Monument, a site important to the civil rights of LGBT Americans; Harriet Tubman National Monument, that honors the essential work of Ms. Tubman in the Underground Railroad; Cesar Chavez National Monument, in recognition of his untiring efforts for migrant workers; Colonel Young National Monument, a formal recognition of the role of the African-American Buffalo Soldiers.

All sites important to a diverse American culture do not need to be in government ownership. In fact, in the last six years the NPS has recommended the designation of many National Historic Landmarks as of highest importance including 11 sites of Latino Heritage, two designations of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage and one LGBT heritage. In addition, the states have nominated many more sites to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. All of this is important because official recognition demonstrates that the official position of the U.S. Government is that our shared and diverse culture is essential to understanding and appreciating American history. However successful these efforts have been, much more needs to be done. The studies should be expanded, more diverse groups need to be engaged in the work, and more designations must be made in order to reflect the real face of America.

The second part of resolving the problem is reaching families from diverse backgrounds and engaging them in National Parks. This can have many benefits. Place-based learning (learning that occurs outside the classroom and preferably in parks) has been shown to be very effective in engaging kids in science, history and nature so it is good for improving learning. Recent science has shown that parks are good for one’s health so parks can help with maintaining healthy families. Once children are engaged in parks, they bring their parents and friends, providing them with the health and learning benefits as well as fun. In this Centennial year, the NPS gave every 4th grader the opportunity to visit a national park for free. Great start! Now let’s formalize and fund more relationships between schools and parks bringing American children to parks as a significant part of their curriculum.

Last, the NPS must increase the number of cultures in their employment ranks. This is easier said than done. Due to the very low turnover rate, few permanent positions are available. It is important that visitors to parks see rangers who look like them and who represent different viewpoints and experiences. The most successful way to enter the NPS is through a seasonal job. Unfortunately, funds for seasonal employees are cut when funding is thin. A solid increase in funding for seasonal employees would open many opportunities for a diverse candidate pool.

Many generations of Americans have loved and used their national parks. It is up to us to ensure that this trend continues with our new demographics. We urge the President to issue an Executive Order, and the Congress to enact legislation to identify and recognize more sites of importance to all Americans, no matter their heritage. We urge the President and the Congress to enact legislation that will fund schools and the NPS to pursue curriculum-based learning in the parks. We urge the President and Congress to provide the funds to increase the recruitment and support for applicants from all cultural backgrounds to apply for and accept positions as employees of the National Park Service.