Investing in National Parks

Last week’s announcement of projects across America to strengthen our national parks reminds us of a powerful lesson when the American people are challenged, they always respond.

After September 11, 2001, Americans were asked to serve neighbor and nation, and volunteer ranks swelled not just in the months after the attacks but for five years. After the Indian Ocean tsunami hit, two former presidents asked Americans to show their compassion, and they did with more than $1 billion in charitable support. Hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast and American citizens came to the rescue. Calls for help went out through the popular show “American Idol” to help prevent and treat diseases such as malaria in Africa, and Americans contributed tens of millions of dollars to save lives. Americans always respond to a call for help and not just in times of tragedy.

As our country prepares for the 100th anniversary of the National Park System, the Bush administration and Congress have issued a historic challenge to the American people. After increasing its own investments in park operations, the federal government said this if you invest in our national parks, the federal government will automatically match that investment for a total of $51 million this year.

Once again, Americans responded. After the challenge was made, Americans exceeded expectations, producing more than 200 proposals, representing more than $215 million of additional support for our national parks. Today, Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Congress are taking an important next step in fulfilling the Centennial Challenge.

110 projects across 76 national parks in 38 states will receive federal funds to match private investment. The lessons of history will come alive for students, using national parks as engaging classrooms and enlisting them in volunteer service. Virtual interactive maps and new technologies will deepen educational experiences for young people at Fredericksburg Battlefield, George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains. Scientists will be connected to visitors at Yellowstone National Park. Junior Ranger and other youth programs will be expanded to deliberately reach disadvantaged youth and bring them to Colorado National Monument, Cuyahoga National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

By enlisting the American people, hundreds of millions who visit our national parks every year, in an historic effort to preserve and strengthen our parks, we foster a unity of purpose around places that bring us together across generations. In the process, we tap the wellspring of American compassion that keeps on giving and strengthens our nation.

Congress and the administration now have the opportunity to make this effort an annual program through the centennial of our national parks in 2016 by enacting bipartisan legislation. Let’s hope they seize this chance.

John M. Bridgeland is CEO of Civic Enterprises and Co-Chairman of the Earth Conservation Corps in Washington, D.C.