National Parks, Politics Link Is Overlooked

How They Can Waltz Together this 108th Birthday

There’s no better feeling than the light and freedom in Grand Canyon National Park.

On the eve of the National Park Service’s 108^th anniversary Sunday, August 25, I’m so glad that the national parks have been my playground for more than one quarter of my life. An immigrant from Jamaica, I never heard the words “national” and “park” together until I was standing in one with my husband Frank, just after my 44^th birthday in 1995. That experience, literally on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, took my breath away, took my fear away, heightened my curiosity and interest in life and gave me a mission which persists to this day.  I’ve since visited 185 of the 431 units.

The problem is that so many Americans – particularly Americans of color – have little familiarity with the National Park System and the coherent American story they tell. The growing percentage of Americans who are of diverse ethnicity make it urgent for the National Park Service to engage this untapped resource, as the national parks rely upon public support for their budget and their very existence.

For all intents and purposes, the national parks ARE the American story as they’re the places where pivotal history happened. The Park Service’s mission is to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”

So obviously, the national parks have a vital role to play in informing the populace about the living record they contain. They teach us lessons from our past so we can see our way forward, and inspire us with the dedication and heroism of Americans of every race and ethnicity that built the nation we have today.

The fact that the parks are looked at almost exclusively as areas of recreation highlight the failure of the Park Service to bring the history they contain to the attention of the public. Especially in this critical election year, there is urgent need for this to change.

I’m not trying to be mean or critical because I love and honor the Park Service, and respect the exemplary job they are doing in the midst of great financial and other challenges. But I’ve often though the Service hides behind a smokescreen when it emphasizes that it’s prohibited by law from “marketing.”

Why does a prohibition against “marketing” lead to an abysmal lack of public information? The mandate to “inspire and educate” would seem to require communication. I meet so many more people from Europe and Asia in the national parks than I meet people of color from communities just outside the parks, because Convention and Vistitor’s Bureaus that reap economic benefits from the parks market them abroad.

To me there is no explanation that makes sense for why everyone in America doesn’t know that we can take a virtual or physical visit to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia, where the insurrectionist Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant April 9, 1865, ending the Civil War. That knowledge would surely puncture the rhetoric of belligerent people championing “the Old South.” It died an ignominious death for wanting to keep humans in bondage and it will, God willing, never return,

General Grant the gentleman strove to uphold some dignity for the defeated Lee and gave him tons of food to feed his starving men. Reportedly a chastened Lee told his men to return home and resume their lives as Americans.

Similarly, every destructive lie upending our politics today can be definitively punctured in a national park: America is a Christian nation? Nope! Just check out the hallowed space in Independence Hall at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were debated and signed.

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal. . .” The founding fathers took great pains to establish our individual freedom to pursue whatever religion we choose.

“Americans of color and immigrants are a drain on our country and contribute little to our country’s development.” This one makes me laugh at the level of ignorance because clearly these people have not walked the grounds of General George Washington’s encampment at Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania. If they had, they’d know that Black and Brown men were part of the Continental Army in that tragic winter of 1777-78, where they had so little supplies that bloody footprints marked the snow. With women providing support, having little clothing, supplies or food, that encampment nevertheless became the place where the United States Army was established as a diverse/inclusive entity. It has remained so ever since.

Maybe they haven’t walked Antietam National Battlefield where African Americans first proved that given a chance, they would fight to the death for their freedom. This battle resulted in the greatest number killed n any single day of the Civil War.

Perhaps they haven’t searched for George Washington Carver’s “Secret Garden” at the National Monument that bears his name, honoring how he saved the South’s economy with agricultural science.

They may not have toured Cesar E. Chavez National Monument that honors the Latino leader who organized the first agricultural labor union, securing the rights of workers and the quality of our food

They may not know the Golden Spike National Historical Park where the service and sacrifice of Chinese workers among those who built the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, is immortalized.

All of this lack of vital information in the public conversation is a travesty and disservice to the American people. To me, it cheapens the service and intention of those who went to great lengths to establish the system and the agency to protect it.

With almost 85 million acres of protected lands, the national parks are our greatest buffer against negative climate change effects. The flora and fauna and the geologic record they contain remind us of our fleeting lifespan on this incredible planet. Taking one step on the Trail of Time in Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim and covering a million years in geologic time really makes me feel highly privileged to be here for my fleeting potential 120 years. It inspires me to make them count.

The National Parks and public lands also give us the starkest contrast between the motivations of our two leading political parties. In a recent survey conducted by the National Parks Action Fund looking at the voting records of Members of the House of Representatives relative to funding national parks, protecting historic sites and remediating environmental injustice, more than 200 members of one party earned an A. In the other party, one member received an A.

It’s Congress that sets the National Park Service’s budget, which at $3.5 billion this year is far short of the $5 billion needed for adequate staffing and capital improvements such as road and bathroom repair and maintenance. The Service lost approximately 20% of its workforce between the 2010 and 2023 fiscal years, with the already-small number of racially diverse being hard hit.

Though more than 325.5 million people visited the parks last year, a significant percentage are foreign tourists who cannot cast a vote to support these treasures. Among other challenges, a continuing lack of housing results in Park Rangers having to sleep in their car, contributing to a decline in morale.

I am convinced that if the parks had a more visible presence in our nation, we would have a much more engaged citizenry eager to advocate for our birthright.

A common question often lobbed at our call for more inclusion is, “How are those people going to afford to go to Yellowstone?”

Well, not everyone needs to go to Yellowstone, although I highly recommend it. But everyone should know the wealth of opportunity that exists within a short distance to “level up” their lives with the benefits of 431 national park units spread out across the country. I’ve spoken at many schools where the white children are excited to share stories about the national parks they’ve visited, while the Black and Brown children mostly look at me blankly.

The national parks are the most economic, exotic vacation one can have. For an $80 Annual National Parks Pass, you can enter every single national park in the country with up to four other people in your car. It’s even less for veterans, those over 62 and people with physical challenges. Many parks don’t even charge entrance fees.

You can have every experience from the elegance of the historic El Tovar Hotel in Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim, to a campsite where you can marvel at a sky so full of stars it changes who you are when you go back home. I call it the ability to go “From Glitz to Grass,” depending on your budget.

I actually count my life in terms of BP (Before Parks) and AP (After Parks) and they are as different as night is from day. After Parks I’m dedicated to taking every action I can relentlessly to improve conditions for everyone in our country by pointing them to the legacy they have in our national parks.

Though the parks are quiet at this time when their MISSION of EDUCATION and INSPIRATION is so sorely needed, I am trying to do my part to make sure they reach the attention of the public, our elected leaders and those running for office. The parks should be the setting - and their stories the music - for a beautiful waltz that brings all Americans together. National Park Service, please Do Something! Americans, please Do Something!

(Audrey Peterman is the recipient of the National Parks Conservation Association’s Centennial Leader Award, 2022 and the National Wildlife Federation’s Environmental Justice 2ist Century for the People Award 2023.)