Holding course

Soukup, Michael

From introduction: "As a retiree one is usually, or perhaps should be, content to sit in the bleachers and cheer on those still playing on the field. But what if your team appears confused about what the goal-line looks like, or is debating whether to change the rules because they’re behind and the clock is running out? It just might be worth calling time and running out on the field with a message to focus on fundamentals, and perhaps some pages from the old playbook. So when asked to contribute to the Centennial Essay Series I couldn’t resist. Several of the most recent essays reflect deep concern over the future of the national park system and its direction in an era of rapid environmental change. Nate Stephenson (2014) reflected on his career as a scientist in a large western park. He wrote partly to dispel the gloom and discouragement he and others feel about losing the Leopold Report’s “vignettes of primitive America” as a guiding principle for managing national parks (Leopold et al. 1963). My intent is similar, although my perspective and frame of reference are different. Similarly, when William Tweed declares in his centennial essay that 'the heart of the national park promise, the ‘best idea America ever had,’ no longer works,' and asks, 'Can national parks evolve successfully in a world where nearly all of their founding assumptions have been proven wrong?' (Tweed 2010: 13), it seems a good time to offer another perspective. While coining new terms, re-defining old terms, or changing goals can exert great appeal in times of challenge, I am convinced that both the Organic Act and its evolving interpretation as found in the National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies are sound navigation tools for an era of rapid environmental change. It’s inescapable that the National Park Service faces an enormous challenge in navigating the future-as does society at large. My message is that NPS-if it prepares well-can seize powerful opportunities to serve and significantly influence society in new ways that sustain our nation’s quality of life. Career employees have always weathered political and philosophical challenges to the national park system and its values. While neither politics nor tradition should be reasons to avoid evaluation of the performance of NPS in meeting its mission, I find myself concerned that, unless things have changed in Washington since I retired, many vested interests covet the idea that the national park system is based on myths, wrong assumptions, or impossible ideals. There have always been strong pressures for abandoning the implications of the Organic Act in favor of managing (perhaps 'gardening'?) national park resources for the immediate benefits that would accrue to constituencies that favor use and consumption of park resources. The attempt to redefine the Management Policies in 2005 intended to achieve that end. Amid the current trend to question the relevance or attainability of conservation ideals (Brower 2014), the centennial represents a chance to celebrate the achievements of one of the world’s most robust efforts to conserve a nation’s natural and cultural heritage, but more importantly to fortify its position for the coming age of rapid environmental change. In that light I offer some reactions to questions about the continued relevance of NPS and its mission in an era of human domination of the planet."