On a bus in Montgomery, a lone woman refused to be sent to the rear. In the dry desert east of Yosemite lie the foundations of an internment camp where thousands of Americans were imprisoned simply because of their ancestry. In a small, drab bar on Christopher Street in New York City, a handful of young men refused to be harassed by the police. These sites were all turning points in American history. They may not be as beautiful as the Tetons, or have the cachet of Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace, but they are each, in their own way, as important in our nation’s unfolding history. 

Originally built as stables in the 1840s, the small two-story building had multiple lives until it was opened as the Stonewall Inn in 1967. Soon it was the largest gay establishment in New York City, if not the nation. Frequently the target of harassing police raids, patrons erupted in rebellion on a hot June night in 1969. Dozens of gay youths refused to be picked on anymore. Rallying hundreds more, they turned the tables, trapping a handful of police officers inside the bar.

Sadly, not long after the riot, the bar closed, and over the next few decades the building languished in various guises, including a shoe store. But in the ensuing decades, a more enlightened society, growing gay pride, and an increasing appreciation of its iconic value led the bar’s stature as a symbol to grow. In 2000, the building was included with Christopher Street as part of the area’s National Historic Landmark designation. In 2007, the building was renovated again and re-opened with its old name, the Stonewall Inn.

Inside the bar today, a small mahogany countertop extends along the west wall facing just a dozen stools, another half-dozen booths line the opposite wall, and a small mirror-ceilinged gathering room remains in the back. It’s just a quarter the size of Boston’s famous bar from the television show Cheers, and when I last went in, it was still a neighborhood hang-out. At midday, a sole bartender was plying her trade to two locals. Stonewall could not be farther from the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. 

Yet, this unlikely site is more than worthy of being a national park. Stonewall Inn is the iconic anchor of a great arc of history that passes on through Harvey Milk, the proliferation of gay rights marches and parades in 1970s, the Rainbow Coalition, the incredible losses of the AIDS epidemic, and the profound shift toward the acceptance of same-sex marriage today. Like the history behind many sites, from Custer’s Last Stand to Manzanar, you don’t have to agree or disagree to recognize it. 

In this light, I urge you to email your Congressman and Senators (find them on our website) and ask that the Stonewall Inn be incorporated into our National Park System. For as then-Assistant Secretary of the Interior John Berry (now Director of the Office of Personnel Management) said in 2000, ”Let it forever be remembered that here—on this spot—men and women stood proud, they stood fast, so that we may be who we are, we may work where we will, live where we choose, and love whom our hearts desire.”

This story is reprinted from the most recent Northeast Regional Field Report. Read the rest of the issue on NPCA’s website.

At the turn of the last century, a great American hero set an enduring standard of excellence that forged the basis of the modern National Park System. With a “take charge” style of leadership, Colonel Charles Young commanded a regiment of U.S. Army soldiers in the construction of improved roads that made it possible for the growing number of wagons and automobiles to safely visit the newly designated national park of Sequoia and its stands of giant redwood trees, the largest in the world. As the first African-American superintendent of a national park, Young led a distinguished military career in war and peace to usher in a new era of racial equality and wilderness preservation.

By presidential proclamation on March 25, 2013, Barack Obama designated the home of Charles Young in Xenia, Ohio, as a national monument to honor his great work along with the men that served as members of the all-African-American 9th and 10th Cavalry divisions known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

With the creation of this site, the president has set in motion a long-overdue exploration into the role African Americans have played in our national legacy of environmental protection. Linking together other places of historical significance, the Charles Young monument will serve as a focal point for a detailed study of the often-forgotten contributions of some of the world’s first Park Rangers.

“The National Park Service shall coordinate with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which manages the Presidio in San Francisco, and Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks to commemorate the historical ties between Colonel Charles Young and his military assignments at those sites, and the role of the Buffalo Soldiers as pioneering stewards of our national parks,” the proclamation reads.

Though Charles Young and his men served with great distinction at many other duty stations, the Buffalo Soldiers’ work to establish and defend the earliest national parks is a unique highlight of their career. Certainly other white army units served at Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite, but under Young’s leadership, the African-American soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry worked tirelessly through this “plum assignment” to make substantial improvements to the parks for others to enjoy. In the summer of 1903 it’s estimated that his men completed more work projects than the previous years of military administration combined. Many of the roads and trails they improved are still in use today.

The exemplary service of Young and his men is worthy of great praise and admiration. Shelton Johnson, the only permanent African-American national park ranger serving at Yosemite today and a national authority on the Buffalo Soldiers said blacks who patrolled the parks during this period endured many hardships due to the racial attitudes of the time.

“I always say that what separates any Buffalo Soldier from a white soldier is that the Buffalo Soldiers were always fighting on two fronts. There was the enemy before them, and that enemy called racism that completely surround them every day of their lives,” Johnson said. “In spite of that fact, they did their duty even though they carried a far heavier burden. They worked harder than their counterparts. They had to, just to prove that they could do the work at all.”

It’s important to realize that during the time Charles Young served his county (roughly 1880 to 1920) a horrific chapter opened in American history, a period known as the “nadir.” Many of the rights blacks attained at the end of the Civil War were abolished. Racial violence, public beatings, and lynchings directed toward African Americans, began to steadily increase and then skyrocketed.

“Colonel Young didn’t simply endure that ‘bad, worse time’ he excelled during it,” wrote Legislative Representative Alan Spears in a statement from NPCA. “Young’s time in national parks was notable then, earning him accolades from admirers military and civilian alike. Today, Young’s legacy has the strong potential to serve as a reminder to those African Americans who think that parks are unwelcoming places with little to no relevance for them or their people, that we have, in fact, always been in and connected to these landscapes, this history.”

Today, when African Americans represent less than 5 percent of national park visitors, a commemorative site that celebrates their enduring legacy and heritage is long overdue. Audrey Peterman author of the new book Our True Nature: Finding A Zest for Life in the National Park System says the memory of Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers can help a new generation of environmental advocates identify with role models whose example they can follow.

“When I walk among the giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park, I am overcome with feelings of awe and amazement,” Peterman said in a recent exchange via email. “Charles Young was so far ahead of his time that he is credited with taking the first conservation action in Sequoia, fencing off the roots of the most vulnerable trees to prevent them being trampled by humans.”

Though park evangelists of the present day might become distracted by threats of spending cuts and the reallocation of resources away from wilderness preservation, lessons learned in the past can help to encourage the best work of protection for generations yet to come.

“As an advocate for the national parks who is also African American, I keep Col. Young’s example uppermost in my mind,” Peterman said “Those days when I feel that it’s just too much to keep going in the face of overwhelming ‘benign neglect’ from the powers that be, I remind myself that he persisted, and so must I.”

The Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument will stand as a clear reminder for the future. Since the beginning of the National Park System, even those already suffering the most tragic circumstances of their day stood and fought to protect the precious natural resources and wild places they loved. Today with the higher stakes of a warming planet, overpopulation, and dwindling sources of energy, how could we now do any less?

This story originally appeared on The Joy Trip Project blog and is reprinted with permission. The Joy Trip Project is made possible with the support sponsors Patagonia, Rayovac, and the New Belgium Brewing Company.

If you liked this story, you might also like

• President Obama Preserves Three Important Sites in America’s History, Honors Civil War Hero Harriet Tubman (March 25, 2013)
• A Valentine’s Day Q&A with Audrey Peterman: One Enthusiast’s “Love Letter to the Parks” (February 14, 2013)
• Standing Guard: Meet America’s Buffalo Soldiers—some of the nation’s first park rangers (from the Fall 2012 issue of National Parks magazine)

Some readers may remember that a small team of NPCA employees put together a Peep diorama last year modeled after one of our nation’s most iconic parks–”Mount Peepmore.” The piece was selected as a semifinalist and displayed among the year’s best entries in a month-long annual art exhibit known as Artomatic. A number of NPCA staff proudly attended the opening reception and saw our interpretation of these four iconic presidential faces memorialized with beaks and bunny ears. It was moving.

This year, an even larger team contributed to another innovative theme, commemorating 2013 as the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as well as the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “By the Peeple. For the Peeple. All Peeps Created Equal,” the piece reads, framed in red, white, and blue. Nick Lund, Lance Speidell, Elizabeth Anderson, Brynne Mason, Christina Kamrath, Madeline Morales, Krissy Conway, Megan Cantrell, Michael Whybrew, Madeleine Starkey, Ed Stierli, Emily Brown, Sara Conner, Jeffery Billington, Jennifer Cole, and Liz Ackley all helped in putting the ambitious project together.

Sadly, the diorama was not selected as a winner this year–but the great theme of pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple bunnies and chicks standing side by side as equals is a timeless one worth sharing!

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Today the country celebrates an important milestone in preserving its history. After years of advocacy and study, President Obama has finally named three new national monuments as part of the National Park System, including a new national park site on Maryland’s Eastern Shore honoring Harriet Tubman. This new national monument encompasses several sites in Dorchester County, Maryland, of great historic significance to Tubman’s early life as an enslaved person and during her career as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

American schoolchildren grow up learning about Tubman and her legendary bravery, hearing how she escaped from slavery and risked her freedom—perhaps her own life—to free dozens of others on the Underground Railroad. Now, just a couple of weeks after the 100th anniversary of her death, the Park Service will help to tell her story.

As an enslaved girl on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Tubman was hired out to work for “Miss Susan,” a mistress who was quick to use the whip. Once, after she caught Tubman stealing a lump of sugar, Miss Susan flew into a violent rage. Tubman fled to escape another beating, and hid in a pigpen for days until hunger forced her to return. She was brutally whipped for her transgressions. 

In October 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia. In December 1854, Tubman, who could neither read nor write, asked a friend to send a coded letter to Jacob Jackson, an Eastern Shore neighbor and a free and literate black man. The letter instructed Tubman’s three brothers to prepare for her pending return to guide them to Philadelphia and freedom. They successfully escaped on Christmas Day, telling no one of their plans, not even their mother who was expecting her sons for Christmas dinner. The Jacob Jackson Site will be part of the Harriet Tubman National Monument and managed by the National Park Service in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the State of Maryland.

Later, as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman returned to Maryland multiple times to liberate friends and family members. Much of the landscape found today on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has changed little since Tubman roamed the territory in the 1800s. The preservation of those fields, trails, and waterways—intact and unimpaired for benefit and enjoyment of future generations—makes this designation an even sweeter victory.

Of equal or greater significance is what this national monument designation will do to advance public understanding of women’s history in general, and the role of African American women in particular. Of the 398 units in our National Park System prior to today’s designations, just seven were tasked directly with commemorating some aspect of women’s history.

Tubman also served in the Civil War as a Union nurse, spy, and scout, on one occasion leading Federal troops along an obscure path which allowed them to more stealthily approach opposing Confederate forces. Tubman’s courageous work contributed directly to the preservation of the Union and highlighting that legacy will help the National Park Service create a much broader and more accurate picture of who really matters when it comes to understanding the conflict that defined this nation. After the war, she continued to serve her people and her country selflessly until her death in 1913. 

While the national monument is a great step forward, it does not accomplish everything advocates hope to achieve on Harriet’s behalf. The national monument would leave out the Poplar Neck plantation (in Talbot and Caroline Counties, Maryland) from which Tubman escaped in 1848. It also does not include any properties in Auburn, New York, including the A.M.E. Zion Church where Tubman worshipped, her personal residence, and a home for the aged she raised money to build and operate. For the past six years, NPCA has actively worked with partners such as the Association for the Study of African American Life & History (ASALH), the Maryland Office of Tourism, and a variety of other federal, state, local, and grassroots champions to pass legislation introduced by Senator Ben Cardin and cosponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Gillibrand (D-NY), and Schumer (D-NY) to preserve these additional sites. Our work on the legislative front will continue even after the designation of the national monument.

As the National Park Service advances towards its centennial in 2016, much discussion has been had about the best ways to create a 21st century park system for a 21st century America. A Tubman site helps advance that goal by commemorating the legacy of a woman who rose from humble beginnings under the worst circumstances any of us could imagine to become one of this nation’s most admired historic icons. Tubman’s story is important because in many ways it is our history at its best. Thanks to bold action of President Barack Obama, her narrative is now a story we can share more broadly with the world, and for that, maybe help make that world a better place.

Colonel Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers

In addition to the long-awaited site honoring Tubman, President Obama also designated two other national park sites sharing important parts of our nation’s history, including the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. Though Harriet Tubman’s story is widely taught, Young’s fascinating legacy and the story of the Buffalo Soldiers is less familiar to many.

In 1884, Second Lieutenant Charles Young became just the third African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Young distinguished himself as a soldier in the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, one of the black troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers that served, among other roles, as some of the nation’s first park rangers. Despite the rigid segregation of the U.S. military at the time, Young rose through the ranks to become a colonel; served as a professor of military science, French, chemistry, geometry, and geology at Wilberforce University in Ohio; and went on to become the first African-American acting national park superintendent at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park in 1903. The national monument preserves Young’s home in Xenia, Ohio, and helps tell not only his story, but the story of life as a black soldier in the 19th century.

First State National Monument

Last but not least, today’s announcement helps preserve an urban oasis along the Brandywine River in Delaware—the only state in the country that did not have a national park site. The First State National Monument tells much of early America’s history, from the Native American Lenape tribe that lived in the river valley to the Wyeth family of artists who still paint its beautiful landscapes. The largest battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of the Brandywine, was fought here, and the birth of industry was literally propelled by the Brandywine River’s steady flow. Even the paper used to print the Declaration of Independence was made on the Brandywine River. The new monument also commemorates the legacy and perseverance of early Dutch, Swedish, and English settlements, a vital aspect of the state’s rich history.

More than five million people live within 25 miles of the main property, making it readily accessible to the public and a conservation centerpiece for the state and the region.

Learn more about the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers, and First State National Monuments on NPCA’s website.

Black history and the African-American narrative comprise an essential chapter in our country’s shared heritage and culture. Nearly 30 of our country’s 398 national park sites directly honor prominent African Americans and share their stories. During Black History Month, NPCA is hopeful about new opportunities—including the three listed below—for Congress to advance the National Park Service’s goal to more authentically represent our shared heritage.

1. Establishment of a long-awaited site to honor Civil Rights pioneer Harriet Tubman. American hero Harriet Tubman is among the most surprising leaders not currently honored in our national parks. Fortunately, the Senate reintroduced the Harriet Tubman National Historic Parks Act this month, which would create national park sites in Maryland and New York. As NPCA’s Legislative Representative Alan Spears said, “Harriet Tubman’s story is that of a true American icon, as she rose from a humble beginning, lived through degradation, and rose above to empower others to reach a better, brighter future.” Harriet Tubman served her country not only as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, but also as a nurse, scout, and spy. Through the expertise of National Park Service, an up-close history of the Underground Railroad could be shared, as well as Tubman’s often overlooked contributions to the war effort.
2. Recognition of the heroic contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers. Honoring our country’s first National Park Rangers, the Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks Study Act was recently reintroduced by House and Senate leaders. If passed, this legislation would authorize the Park Service to examine areas that were significant to African-American troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers in the late 1800s and early 1900. Many believe American Indians coined the term from the soldiers’ brown skin and thick curly hair, not unlike the buffalo. Others believe the strength of the buffalo inspired the name. What we know without question is that before the National Park Service, park care and administration was commissioned through the Army. Buffalo Soldiers played a historic and central role in protecting Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, from their headquarters in the Presidio of San Francisco.
3. Creation of Chicago’s first national park. We also await reintroduction of legislation in Chicago to study a potential Pullman National Historic Site in Chicago. The Pullman District was the first industrial planned community in the 1880s and recounts of the rise of the modern labor movement and the formation of the first African-American labor union. Unique stories of accomplishment make the Pullman district a perfect place for Chicago’s first national park site.

NPCA is proud to advocate on behalf of these important sites and work to preserve African-American history in our national parks. On Wednesday, February 27 from 3-4pm ET, NPCA will host its first Google+ Hangout: “The Legacy of Buffalo Soldiers and Our National Parks.” Famed Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson and Colonel Charles Young biographer Brian Shellum will participate in the discussion, along with NPCA staff members Alan Spears and Amy Marquis. Join us for this discussion on the history of Buffalo Soldiers in our national parks and efforts currently underway to further diversify our National Park Service from the inside out.

UPDATE: You can watch a recording of NPCA’s Google Hangout here. Special thanks to Shelton Johnson, Brian Shellum, Alan Spears, Amy Marquis, and everyone who participated and sent questions for this informative and interesting discussion.

Now, Audrey’s new book, Our True Nature, takes readers on a different kind of journey through a rich cross-section of the park system, with stories, photos, and enthusiasm for 57 of the country’s greatest places. We asked Audrey, a past recipient of NPCA’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award and four-term NPCA board member, to share some of her inspirations and insights with us.

 —

Q: Our True Nature feels very different from Legacy on the Land—more general in its subject matter, like a travel guide that anyone could pick up to learn more about the parks.

Audrey: That was actually my goal, to make this book issueless—a love letter to the parks.

Legacy on the Land was our journey of discovery. I literally fell into the national park system by accident, and then I couldn’t stay out! When I found that there was so much resistance and misunderstanding [about the relationship between people of color and the parks], Legacy echoed our challenges and frustrations. But with this book, I just decided to pour my heart out with love. People are so overwhelmed with issues. I really just wanted to use the power of love and beauty to inspire people.

Q: Of course, you explore themes of diversity, but not on every page. It really is a mix of different places throughout the country.

Audrey: That’s what the park system is all about! It’s got our collective history and all of the beauty and splendor of the natural world, and it tells the story of how we got here together.

Q: How did you narrow the book down to 57 parks? That must have been a difficult process.

Having the imprint of such monumental natural wonders on my spirit gives me perspective on how infinitesimal I am in the world, and yet how important. … My demeanor is always centered in the knowledge that there’s something so much bigger than myself. – Audrey Peterman
Audrey: It actually wasn’t. I didn’t focus as much on the ones that were in Legacy. For example, Mammoth Cave, which gets a lot of ink in Legacy, doesn’t appear in this book at all.

Q: But Badlands does.

Audrey: Badlands does, but it’s a new story. It’s a story about how the parks don’t just protect the natural resources that are terrestrial, but also the ones that are extraterrestrial! I didn’t even know there were parks protecting our dark skies. That made such an impact on me, seeing the Milky Way from horizon to horizon. We all live under the same sky, in such a small fraction of the universe.

Q: I know one of your goals is convincing new people to explore the parks. How do you do it?

Audrey: If you know my personality, it’s big on parks. If I’m in the supermarket or the gas station, the Grand Canyon and the Everglades are always working their way into my conversations. I talk to everybody, because that’s the kind of person I am.

It’s amazing to know that when people think about these places, they think about them as being far away. And I’m saying, are you kidding me? Wherever you are, there’s a park unit nearby. [Or people] might say that it’s going to be expensive, and I tell them that for eight dollars their whole car can get in, and some parks don’t even have an entrance fee. If they’re 62 or older they can get a park pass for ten dollars that’s good for the rest of their lives. That blows people’s minds!

It’s just providing information and leadership—and saying what the benefits are. They’re astronomical!

Q: What have some of those benefits been for you?

Audrey: When we were at Yellowstone, we were looking at a burned part of a mountain and Frank said, “Oh, that must have burned in the fire of ’88.” The white man standing next to us said, “Yes.” He pointed and said, “When my father brought me as a child, they were building over there. When I brought my son, they were building over there.” Now, he had retired and was back for his third time. I saw a shadow pass across Frank’s face. Later, when I asked him, he said, “I don’t live my life with any regrets, but as that man was talking, I realized that I had really shortchanged myself and my children because I had not taken them to see these places. He and his family know this country. They have a sense of ownership. We don’t.” So I said, “We’ll take our children and our grandchildren now.” To extrapolate from that, I’ve been trying to take the whole country!

My girlfriend came to visit and we decided to take a trip down to Everglades one Sunday. I’ve been to the Everglades five hundred million thousand times, and yet on this trip, there were places I’d never been before. At the end of the day, she said, you know, I want to put this park in my estate plan, and I want to volunteer here. That’s the kind of response that the parks evoke in people. You know how she described it? She said, “It feels like I’ve had a forest bath.” I thought that was such an unusual way of putting it. What she was saying is that she felt she had just been washed clean.

Q: I get a sense you have a real spiritual connection with nature.

Audrey: Having the imprint of such monumental natural wonders on my spirit gives me perspective on how infinitesimal I am in the world, and yet, how important. I am part of everything. Though a small part, I am connected to everything. It allows me to take a step back from whatever challenges I’m experiencing. My demeanor is always centered in the knowledge that there’s something so much bigger than myself.

Q: Do you think the parks have become more diverse since you started exploring them in 1995?

Traveling through the park system, I get a bigger picture of what America really is. It is so much more inclusive of all the races. Everybody has contributed to the greatness of this country. – Audrey Peterman
Audrey: Exponentially. In the early days, when I saw black people in the parks, I would run up to them and would have to find out all about them, because I was just so excited. But now, if I were to do that, I’d be running up to people all the time!

Now there are so many groups that have arisen around the country. Rue Mapp and Outdoor Afro are continuously introducing people to the parks in the California area. Dudley Edmondson, the noted wildlife photographer and birder wrote the first book about people of color in the park system and the environmental movement. The most exciting of all is Juan Martinez. Juan is a young Latino man who grew up in a rough part of L.A. He got in trouble in school and had a choice between failing a class or going to Eco Club; he chose the Eco Club. [Later,] he got a chance to go to Grand Teton National Park, where he saw the stars for the first time. The impact that it had on his life was so transformative that he has devoted himself to conservation and getting other young people in nature and the parks. And you know what he was named last year? National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Q: That must feel really hopeful, looking forward to the next generation of leaders.

Audrey: Hopeful? It’s not hopeful. It’s affirmative! Give people the exposure and the opportunities, and we’re there.

Q: What about environmental institutions that have traditionally disregarded diverse voices? Do you think things are getting better?

Audrey: Well, there are individuals who care very passionately. [But] people live by certain prevailing myths. A myth has grown up in America around the enjoyment and protection of natural resources and our public land system. That myth says that people of color are not interested, not suitable—just not. It doesn’t matter how much you demonstrate that isn’t true. The power of the myth is so deep that it overrides facts and intelligence. That is the myth that is holding us up. It’s holding us back.

In this increasingly multicultural society, I keep hearing people who call themselves environmental leaders say, “We’ve tried so hard [to get people of color involved], and it’s just not happening.” Look at all the people across the country who are really, vigorously doing this work. But the myth overrides the reality.

So many business leaders serve on boards in the environmental sector, and I wonder, if they saw that the fastest-growing demographic group was not using their product or service, what would they do? Do you think they would sit around and say, “Well, we tried to reach them one time in 1978 for a couple of months and that didn’t work”?

What I am saying now to environmental organizations is this. By 2042, people of color will be 50 percent of the population. Even if every white person in the country was dedicating themselves full-time to the environment, if the other 50 percent doesn’t know or care, how are our issues going to survive?

Q: Do you think there’s a positive trend?

Audrey: My ambition is to see the day when all Americans love our national treasures the way I do. It makes us feel a little more loving of ourselves, a little more accepting of ourselves and others, to realize we are part of something so glorious. The park system did that for me, so I know it can do it for other people.

I really think a lot of the friction in the country comes from the fact everybody thinks that they know what America is [but they only see part of it]. Traveling through the park system, I get a bigger picture of what America really is. It is so much more inclusive of all the races. Everybody has contributed to the greatness of this country.

I’m ready for things to change. Seventeen years later, I do see signs of change, but I’m hearing some similar attitudes in places of leadership, which is very disconcerting.

I’m not trying to belittle anything that anyone else is doing or any organization is doing. NPCA is trying. The Nature Conservancy is trying. The Sierra Club is trying. The Park Service is trying. But I see the effort as very small compared to the effort that is needed.

If it’s imperative, you have to find ways to do it. If you haven’t made strides in capturing the loyalty of another 50 percent of the population, then how are you going to survive? Some things cannot wait. That’s what leadership means, right?

Learn more about Our True Nature on Audrey and Frank’s website, www.legacyontheland.com.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Korematsu’s story is not widely known, though three state governments are helping to change that by declaring January 30 Fred Korematsu Day—the first such holiday honoring an Asian American.

The United States officially entered World War II after Japanese fighters bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941; the country had been at war for more than a year when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 giving U.S. armed forces broad powers to incarcerate anyone in the name of military defense. The government overwhelmingly used this power to imprison Japanese Americans for having “foreign enemy ancestry” (though German Americans, Italian Americans, and Jewish Americans were also detained, in smaller numbers). Ultimately, the military kept 120,000 innocent people under armed guard in isolated areas of the West, forcing them to leave their homes, businesses, possessions, and normal lives behind—for years.

When the incarcerations began, Korematsu chose to defy the executive order and live as an ordinary American, changing his name and even undergoing minor plastic surgery on his eyes in an attempt to hide his ethnicity. Still, he was arrested in May 1942, convicted in a federal court, and held against his will at a “relocation center” until the end of the war.

“Fred was not interested in a pardon from the government; instead, he always felt that it was the government who should seek a pardon from him and from Japanese Americans for the wrong that was committed.” – Kathryn Korematsu

Korematsu maintained his innocence and appealed his arrest all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled against him in 1944, claiming the imprisonments were a “military necessity.” His arrest was a black mark on his record for decades. Finally, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed a special commission on the incarcerations that ultimately determined in 1983 that the government had imprisoned thousands of Japanese Americans based on racism and prejudice, not military necessity. In 1982, Peter Irons, a political science professor at the University of California, uncovered secret government documents while conducting research. The documents proved that the Justice Department had knowingly suppressed evidence showing that the incarcerated Americans were innocent of wrongdoing and posed no military threat to justify their imprisonment. The new evidence and the presidential commission’s findings allowed a legal team to reopen Korematsu’s case and overturn his criminal conviction in 1983, more than four decades after his arrest.

During the litigation, the government offered Korematsu a pardon in exchange for dropping his lawsuit. His wife, Kathryn Korematsu, described his reaction this way: “Fred was not interested in a pardon from the government; instead, he always felt that it was the government who should seek a pardon from him and from Japanese Americans for the wrong that was committed.”

Korematsu spent the later years of his life protesting the government detention of suspected combatants at Guantanamo Bay after 9/11, filing amicus briefs on behalf of Muslims incarcerated without trials.

The National Park Service has played an important role telling the story of Japanese-American incarceration during World War II. Three of the ten “relocation camps” at Manzanar, Minidoka, and Tule Lake are now parts of the National Park System, though the camp where Korematsu spent most of his incarceration, the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah, was mostly stripped of its buildings and artifacts after the war when the government auctioned off much of the land and property there. Some items are preserved in a local museum, and the site is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

Learn more about Korematsu’s legacy on the Korematsu Institute website, and read a recent story in National Parks magazine about some of the remarkable works of art created by Japanese Americans in the camps, written by the daughter of two internees.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

On Monday, January 21, the Department of the Interior will waive entrance fees at all national parks in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. For those of us fortunate enough to have the day off, the fee-free day is an excellent reason to commemorate the life of the visionary leader in one of America’s most inspirational places.

Monday is also Inauguration Day. For those who plan to be in the Washington, D.C., area, a trip to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial near the Tidal Basin on the National Mall is worth the short walk from downtown. The memorial, officially dedicated in 2011, is a majestic, larger-than-life tribute to the Civil Rights hero that allows visitors to travel through a symbolic “Mountain of Despair” to see a 30-foot replica of King himself, known as the “Stone of Hope.” (Both quotes are from King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963.) The statue is surrounded by a 450-foot granite wall inscribed with memorable quotes from throughout King’s career.

If you’re not planning to be in D.C., however, it’s worth noting that this memorial is always free to the public—as is the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site that preserves his childhood home, his tomb, and the Center for Nonviolent Change founded in his name by Coretta Scott King in Atlanta, Georgia—so you can plan a cost-effective trip to either of these historic places when it suits you. For more inspiration on where to spend a meaningful day near you, see NPCA’s list of parks in the National Park System that showcase African-American history, including pivotal people and places in the Civil Rights movement.

Of course, if you’re the solitary type, you might also put a book on King in your backpack, head to any of your favorite parks, find an overlook on a quiet trail, and reflect on his tremendous legacy.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

The Santa Monica Mountains are L.A.’s backyard, but for children of color living in poverty with no access to a car, they may as well be worlds away. Expanding the largest urban national park in the country and creating adequate public transportation to the park will bring this resource to all our children.

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (NRA), with 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline, provides a seamless network of federal, state, and local park lands, with places for physical activity and habitat for people, 450 animal species, and 26 plant communities. If the National Park Service (NPS) expands the boundaries under its Rim of the Valley study, the NRA could have over four times more green space—going a long way toward ensuring access for park-poor, income-poor communities where children of color disproportionately live.

A remarkably diverse and growing alliance of advocates for equal justice, public health, and green space have submitted comments to NPS to diversify access to and support for the expanded NRA.

According to NPS, the expanded NRA would “provide more recreation opportunities and ecological connections with an emphasis on creating better connections for a broad range of urban audiences including many who are under-represented in national parks and underserved by state and local parks.” We applaud NPS for this approach.

People of color visit national park land at disproportionately low rates—but not because they do not value the environment and outdoor recreation. People of color care deeply about the natural environment, as shown by election results, polls, and surveys. People of color vote, and they have made the difference in passing park and environmental measures. They are entitled to their fair share of the benefits of environmental projects like this.

The expanded NRA can help get people back to work and strengthen the economy in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Latinos and African Americans have been worst hit by joblessness and drops in wealth. Communities face unemployment levels of over 13 percent. Local green jobs through diverse training, apprenticeship, and stewardship programs, and partnerships with non-profit advocacy organizations, can help. The boom, not the present slump, is the time for austerity. If you want parks, work for jobs–and justice.

Children of color suffer disproportionately from obesity and diabetes, and are the most at risk for antisocial behavior including gangs, crime, drugs, and violence. “Access to safe, healthy environments for exercise and recreation are crucial for all communities,” according to Scott Chan of the Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance. “Seven out of ten Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders are overweight or obese in California (highest of all racial and ethnic groups), followed by nearly five out of ten Philipinos. Asian and Pacific Islanders had the highest increase in Type 2 diabetes—a 68 percent increase from 1997-2011. Given these grim statistics, we should be further motivated to increase access to healthy spaces and healthy opportunities whenever and wherever possible.”

Park and health disparities are exacerbated by a lack of transportation. There is no good way to reach the mountains and forests in the Los Angeles region using transit. An expanded recreation area could meet these diverse needs through a fully funded, balanced expansion that includes Transit to Trails, hiking, biking, and camping, as well as active recreation including soccer, baseball and other sports fields, complete green streets with biking trails and safe routes to school, and joint use of parks, schools and pools.

NPCA urges NPS to “create new and enhanced education, interpretation and collaborative programs that engage Los Angeles’ diverse cultures and unique natural environment,” according to California Desert Field Representative Seth Shteir. NPS should also ”expand Transit to Trails and similar community engagement programs to take inner city youth and their families and friends on fun, educational and healthy hiking, biking and camping trips to mountains, rivers, and other natural green spaces for no or low cost.” 

NPS needs to work with agencies within the NRA so those agencies know their obligations under equal justice laws and principles, and the public receives the benefits to which they are entitled. For example, the California Department of Parks and Recreation consistently refuses to acknowledge that equal protection laws apply to all its programs and projects, maintaining incorrectly that if the specific project is not federally funded, the laws do not apply. And Malibu has long been a hot bed of activism to privatize public beaches and lands. Beaches and the coastal zone must remain public for all.

Celebrating diverse cultural, art, and heritage sites and Native American sites would benefit all people. According to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, “Less than 3 percent of all the national landmarks . . . are designated for women, Latinos, African Americans or other members of minority groups.” NPS should conduct a thorough survey of relevant places in and around the expanded NRA to designate monuments that celebrate diversity, democracy, and freedom.

President Obama has designated the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers as national priorities as part of the America’s Great Outdoors or urban waters initiatives. The expanded NRA can serve those priorities and the needs of the people by linking green space and cultural sites from the Santa Monica Mountains on the west side to the Angeles Forest on the east. Linking an expanded Santa Monica Mountains NRA and the proposed San Gabriel Mountains and River NRA would help make the classic Olmstedian vision for Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region.

The people of Los Angeles have the opportunity to work with NPS to expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to make this dream of green justice come true for all our children.

Ramya Sivasubramanian is Assistant Director and Counsel with The City Project, a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy team based in Los Angeles that seeks equal justice, democracy, and livability for all. She works to ensure that her daughter and all children, including children of color and low income children, can enjoy the simple joys of playing in the park. This story originally appeared on KCET.org.

As a resident of the New York City area and the wife of a business school student, I’ve spent countless hours listening to my peers discuss which new mobile app or digital tool will revolutionize America and improve the quality of life for people throughout the nation. Yet, I remain convinced that one of America’s greatest products does not rely on software upgrades or Wi-Fi access to bring happiness to an increasing number of Americans each year. I’m referring to an island oasis filled with sun-kissed mountains, sandy beaches, and deep blue waters located off the coast of Maine: Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park is located near the town of Bar Harbor on Maine’s Mount Desert Island and became a national park site in 1916. The region was initially inhabited by the native Wabanaki people and the first Europeans settled in 1763. Since then, Bar Harbor has been home to such prominent Americans as John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who invested millions into Acadia. Most notably, he financed, designed, and directed the construction of an innovative 50-mile network of carriage trails throughout the park between 1915 and 1933. Like all great businessmen, Mr. Rockefeller recognized the significant value of Acadia and was dedicated to increasing the public’s access and exposure to this national treasure.

Mr. Rockefeller made a commitment to public access in Acadia that continues to this day. With a generous contribution from Nature Valley, NPCA recently partnered with Friends of Acadia, a leading organization in grassroots park stewardship, and the National Park Service (NPS) to help fulfill the goal of completing Village Connector Trails to provide better access to the park. These trails are designed to decrease automobile congestion while facilitating increased connectivity of visitors and residents to the park, continuing Rockefeller’s legacy.

On June 2, 2012, National Trails Day, I had the opportunity to represent NPCA at the dedication ceremony of the Duck Brook Connector Trail, the fifth trail in the Village Connector Trail series. This trail begins on Maine’s Route 3 outside the front entrance of the Acadia Inn and (thanks to a generous easement from the inn) provides a direct route to the carriage roads developed by Mr. Rockefeller almost a century earlier. During the trail dedication, I was struck by the number and diversity of people who attended: They were neighbors and tourists, seasoned park-lovers and first-timers, retirees and college students. Despite inclement weather, they were eager to commend the tremendous efforts of NPCA, Friends of Acadia, and NPS and hike the new trail for the first time.

The effort to make Acadia more open and accessible is not over. Nature Valley has continued to provide generous funding toward this project, and NPCA in conjunction with Friends of Acadia is currently completing another trail in Trenton, Maine, just outside the new Acadia Welcome Center. And as I toured my favorite national park this past October, I reflected on other initiatives that the various partners of Acadia, like Nature Valley, have advanced over the years to ensure that more people experience and appreciate this special place. Their work has included diverse projects, from clean, propane buses that tour the park to the Schoodic Education and Resource Center, Acadia’s training and research center dedicated to educating youth in one of Maine’s poorest communities.

Acadia, like other national parks, is a one-of-a-kind, American-made creation that has provided ecological health, recreational opportunities, economic prosperity, and an appreciation for the natural world to millions of people. At NPCA, we will continue to champion Acadia and applaud the efforts of NPS and Friends of Acadia for bringing the park to a larger and more diverse segment of America. I am grateful to Nature Valley and other public and private partners that recognize our national parks are ventures that are just as worthy of investment today as they were almost a century ago.