Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

NPS 'listening sessions' wrap up

More than 60 people attended the last in a nationwide series of listening sessions in Flagstaff last week, commenting on the future of the national parks and on where to invest millions of additional dollars that will become available as NPS nears its 100th anniversary.

The meeting was one of 40 held across the U.S. to unveil the National Park Centennial Challenge, a 10-year initiative to restore infrastructure and facilities, bolster interpretive offerings and develop signature projects by 2016, when NPS turns 100.

"I think that this concept of coming out and listening to our partners, listening to the public, listening to those who care so much about parks, it's really important. The success of the parks is going to be in how we work together with all of the various people," said Grand Canyon Superintendent Steve Martin, one of several superintendents from northern Arizona NPS units on hand to answer questions and hear comments.

Attendees were asked to consider three questions:

• Imagine you, your children or future generations enjoying national parks in 2016 and beyond. What are your hopes and expectations?

• What role do you think national parks should play in the lives of Americans and visitors from around the world?

• What are the signature projects and programs that you think should be highlighted for completion over the next 10 years?

The Centennial Initiative was developed over the past year or so, led by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and supported by NPS Director Mary Bomar.

"(Kempthorne) asked how can we get the National Park Service ready for the next 100 years," Martin said.

It's no accident that the initiative recalls Mission 66, a 10-year effort to beef up funding to the national parks following years of neglect during and right after World War II. They were not only preparing for NPS' 50th anniversary in 1966, but also for a projected visitation of 80 million by that time, 30 million more than in 1955. The extra funding addressed maintenance backlogs, fixed crumbling infrastructure and funded services that included modern visitor centers across the country. Headquarters buildings at Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are among them, as is the Albright Training Center.

"This is modeled a little bit after Mission 66," Martin said. "The focus then was facilities, after the big boom in visitation."

While Mission 66 came with an extensive publicity campaign, 50 years later the process of developing a vision is more collaborative. Along with park users, the meeting attracted representatives from key partner agencies such as Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon National Park Foundation, Grand Canyon Trust, the Forest Service and concessions managers.

"We started with what we feel are the issues as far as the National Park Service, but also thought, how do we begin to engage the public. Because these are really the people's parks. It shouldn't just be what we as stewards think," said Martin.

Along with the public and park partners, NPS hopes to engage what Martin called "a margin of excellence" ­ corporate donors and philanthropists ­ with an available $100 million in matching funds to develop signature projects.

While visitor centers were the hallmark of Mission 66, some officials believe the defining themes of the Centennial Challenge will be less tangible.

"The major difference you're going to find with the Centennial Challenge is there won't be so much infrastructure, although there may be some of that," said Palma Wilson, superintendent of the Flagstaff area parks. "It's more programmatic."

Along with programs will come more sophisticated means of delivering them. Wilson said she envisions offerings like virtual ranger-led tours that visitors can download to an ipod.

"We need to be relevant," she said. "How do we become relevant to the kids of today? Technologies have changed from when we were growing up. I think people still love the parks. But I think they're expecting some different experiences out there."

According to facilitators two common themes were sustainability and relevance.

Terra Crampton, director of corporate and foundation relations at the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation addressed the first.

"We need to make the parks models of sustainability," she said. "I think that with 5 million visitors a year going through Grand Canyon National Park, it would be good if they could see how to introduce sustainability into their own lives. If the parks are doing it, they could be role models for the rest of the country and even to the world."

Though the official comment period closed with the last meeting, Martin said comments and ideas are always welcome."Basically the door is always open to good ideas. If we're truly looking at 2016 and beyond, hopefully this will start something that will continue not just for this report but will truly engage people and their ideas to make the parks better for the next 100 years," he said. "I think many of our best ideas are going to come from outside."

For more on the National Park Centennial Initiative, visit www.nps.gov/2016.


Donate Report a Typo Contact