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.

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.

While “do-nothing” is the adjective du jour for the 112th Congress, we argue that it is not a fair description for individual elected officials, but instead for the unfortunate, collective sum.

Throughout the 112th Congress, NPCA supported or at least monitored 140 national park-focused bills. Within the House and Senate, numerous bills were introduced over the past two years with goals of enhancing our current national park sites, as well as expanding the National Park System. 

Members of Congress introduced 11 bills to establish new National Park Service sites. The proposed new sites included the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Washington, New Mexico, and Tennessee; Valles Caldera National Park in northern New Mexico; a Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas; Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada; the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in New York and Maryland; and the First State National Historical Park in Delaware—the only state without a national park. 

Legislators introduced another 13 bills that would have expanded current units of our National Park System, such as the proposed San Antonio Missions National Historical Park boundary expansion, the California Desert Protection Act (which included additions to Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks and Mojave National Preserve), the Gettysburg National Military Park Expansion Act, and the Oregon Caves Revitalization Act. Among many other benefits, these expansions would have enhanced wildlife corridors for endangered species, preserved iconic places in history, and provided a buffer to protect parks from development threats outside park boundaries.

Twenty-two of the bills introduced by the 112th Congress would have studied potential new national park sites, such as a historic trail that tells the story of early park management by the Buffalo Soldiers; the home in Xenia, Ohio, of the first African-American national park superintendent, Colonel Charles Young; and the Hudson River Valley of New York.

Legislation introduced during the 112th Congress proved that many legislators on both sides of the political aisle care deeply about protecting and enhancing our National Park System. This bipartisan support for our parks was mirrored in recent polling by NPCA and the National Parks Hospitality Association that found 95 percent of voters want the federal government to ensure our parks are protected for the future and available for their enjoyment. 

Unfortunately, on Capitol Hill, good intention alone does not get the job done. Of these 140 bills, only a few very non-controversial items with little to no budget impact passed both houses of Congress to become law.

According to the Second Century Commission report, America is losing at least one million acres a year to development—roughly equivalent to the size of Delaware. Walking in Abraham Lincoln’s footsteps where he delivered the Gettysburg address; exploring the cool wonder of one of the world’s only marble caves; and discovering saber-toothed cat and dire wolf fossils, just miles from the Las Vegas strip are all at risk, if Congress does not begin to take action, now.

Fortunately, Congress does not hold the only power to create new national parks. Thanks to the Antiquities Act, a sitting president can also preserve natural and historic sites as part of the National Park System—a privilege which has been evoked equally by Republican and Democratic presidents over the years. President Obama used the Antiquities Act to establish two new national park monuments over the last two years: Fort Monroe National Monument in Virginia and the César E. Chávez National Monument in California. Fort Monroe preserves and honors the pivotal role that the site played in ending slavery in America, and the César E. Chávez Monument recognizes the leadership role of the influential labor leader in the farmworkers’ movement and history, and is the first national park to honor a contemporary Latino American. President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, the National Park Service’s Call to Action report, and the National Parks Second Century Commission report all call for advancing and diversifying our country’s national parks, to protect and honor our heritage.

Now we need Congress to help preserve more of America’s history before it is lost. As the 113th Congress takes office, we urge our new and returning legislators to do more than their predecessors and take the next step. Reintroduce and move forward these bills that will benefit gateway communities and urban areas, protect precious natural resources, and ensure that our National Park System truly reflects our rich history and shared heritage.

In July 2011, I received an unexpected email from someone named Lisong Ni. I’m glad I did.

Lisong is part of a small group of people working to create a new national park in China’s Qinghai Province. He contacted me because of my experience in Wyoming and Montana, including Yellowstone National Park, an area similar geographically and geologically to China’s Qinghai Province. After a year of corresponding and a site visit to Montana and Yellowstone from the working group in 2011, I was invited to China in September to help assess the area’s natural, historic, and cultural resources, and to discuss management options for the soon-to-be-created Kunlun National Park.

When I stepped off the plane in Xining, China, it was clear I was in a different world.

The Qinghai Province is China’s most diverse–Tibetan, Mongolian, and Muslim people all call the region home. The area is similar to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, except that 19,000-foot mountain peaks, high plains, sheep herders, wild yaks, camels, temples, monks, and small farms dot the landscape. 

The Qinghai Province is the least-populated of all Chinese provinces. The region contains vast reserves of oil and gas, rare minerals, and tremendous energy potential. China sees Kunlun National Park as a way to make great contributions to the global economy, protect natural resources, provide environmental education, and increase the living standards for people in the region.

The park would also protect wildlife and wildlife habitat. Similar to Yellowstone’s northern pronghorn, Tibetan antelope experienced a population decline in the early 1900s. Millions of these animals once roamed the high Tibetan plateau; now herd numbers are in the thousands.

One reason for the population decline is illegal poaching. Another is fencing. When Tibetan sheep herders corral their animals, the fencing keeps sheep in, but does not allow wildlife to move easily across the landscape.

For the past eight years, I’ve worked with landowners, ranchers, land management agencies, and volunteers throughout southwestern Montana, altering and removing fences like this. As China changes and evolves, I am hopeful their fencing practices will too.

My experiences in the Kunlun Mountains and in the valleys of the Qinghai province were life-changing. I met people on their land, listened, and communicated without speaking a word of Mandarin. I learned that despite our so-called differences, most people want the same things: to share the natural world with curious souls and protect wildlife’s place on the landscape.

The people working to create Kunlun National Park believe in honoring the culture, history, and natural wonders of the Qinghai Province, improving lives for people who call this region home, and setting aside big areas of wild country for wildlife to thrive in and for people to enjoy. I believe in the Kunlun National Park project and look forward to seeing how this project unfolds.

Note: This is the second of several stories on the upcoming presidential election. You can sign NPCA’s petition urging the candidates to pledge their support for national parks.

UPDATE, October 15, 2012: You can now submit a question for the October 16 town hall debate at http://feedback.aol.com/voiceofdebate/?aol.

On Tuesday, October 16, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will face off in their second debate before the presidential election. The “town hall” format of this debate will offer something new: the opportunity to send questions by Twitter and email to the candidates on issues you care about.

Staff members at NPCA are watching these debates closely to see where both candidates stand on issues affecting national parks. And yes, we have plenty of questions.

We have reason to be concerned, too. Both candidates have endorsed large cuts to federal spending. The National Park Service is only 1/14th of 1 percent of the federal budget and even a small cut could have a huge impact—and not just on the parks themselves. Communities around the country like Estes Park, Colorado; Port Angeles, Washington; Cleveland, Ohio; and many others rely on national parks for tourism.

Americans also love our national parks—on both sides of the aisle. Roughly 278 million people visit them each year—more than those who attend NFL football games (17 million), visit Disneyland (16 million), attend major league baseball games (73 million), and visit Apple retail stores (71 million) combined. These are not only important places for their beauty and their history; many people need national parks to remain open because their jobs and businesses depend on them.

Here are a few things we want to know.

NPCA’s suggestions for what to ask the candidates

1. As you propose federal budget cuts in your campaign platforms, do you consider the enormous impact even a small cut can have on the National Park Service?
2. Do you know that a small cut to the National Park Service could result in closing national parks all over the country? Have you considered what this could do to jobs and small businesses?
3. The Park Service will celebrate its centennial in 2016. As president, what would you do to enhance our national parks for their second century?
4. Multiple studies show that national parks create jobs, attract international tourists, and provide significant economic value to nearby communities. Do you agree public investment in our national parks is important to our national and local economies?
5. National parks depend on adequate operational funds to stay open and staffed. Do you think the national parks should receive more appropriated operational funds, about the same as they receive now, or fewer appropriated operational funds?
6. Do you support creating new national park units that tell American stories currently absent from our National Park System, such as  modern scientific advancement, women’s history, and Latino history?
7. Do you support opening all national park units to hunting, including historical sites and other federally protected places not originally intended for this practice?
8. A few politicians have suggested that selling public lands could solve our national debt problems. Would you sell national parks? If so, which ones?

Finally, tell the candidates national parks matter. Before you tune in to the debate, be sure to sign our petition!

More stories in this series

• Why This Election Matters for National Parks (October 3, 2012)
• Preserving National Parks: It’s Not Just Popular, It’s Patriotic (October 22, 2012)

By Ron Sundergill, Senior Director of NPCA’s Pacific Regional Office

NPCA commends President Barack Obama for announcing on Monday that he will designate a César E. Chávez National Monument in Keene, California, as the 398^th site in the National Park System—the first national park unit to recognize the work of a contemporary Latino American. This designation is an excellent first step toward honoring Chávez and a fitting way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

NPCA has long supported the addition of a Chávez-themed site to the National Park System. That work began more than a decade ago when our Pacific Regional Office and Government Affairs department began lobbying Congress for passage of the César Estrada Chávez Study Act, first introduced by Congresswoman Hilda Solis and Senator John McCain. NPCA’s outreach included a unique partnership with the César Chávez School for Public Policy in Washington, DC, whose students accompanied NPCA staff on multiple visits to congressional offices to lobby on behalf of the bill. NPCA has also supported outreach “on the ground” with our Central Valley and Pacific Region offices, where we have been involved in organizing local community support and working closely with partners such as the César Chávez Foundation on this effort. The bill passed by bipartisan voice vote in 2007, and the National Park Service released its draft study in 2011.

Chávez is recognized as one of the most important labor and human rights leaders in the United States during the twentieth century because of his leadership of the farmworkers movement in the 1960s. In alliance with thousands of farmworkers and their supporters, Chávez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in 1962, the first agricultural labor union in the nation. As president of the UFW, Chávez steered the union through a series of unprecedented victories, including contracts that covered more than 100,000 farmworkers; raised wages and funded health care and pension plans; mandated the provision of drinking water and restroom facilities in the fields; regulated the use of pesticides in the fields; and established a fund for community service projects. Chávez’s non-violent advocacy helped secure the passage of the first law in the United States that specifically recognized farmworkers’ rights to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining.

The work that Chávez and his allies led inspired generations of Americans and is recognized as one of most successful grassroots movements in our nation. In 2011, the National Park Service found that there was a need for a national park site dedicated to César Chávez and determined that five locations around the country were of national significance, including the site of the new national monument, the National Chávez Center at Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz. (The name translates to “Our Lady, Queen of Peace” in English, and is commonly referred to as “La Paz.”)

Chávez established the headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) at La Paz in 1972. La Paz now has great historic significance for its role in the 20th century labor, civil rights, Chicano, and environmental movements, and for its association with Chávez. The site contains 26 historic buildings and structures that include a visitor center with Chávez’s preserved office and library, as well as a memorial garden and Chávez’s burial site.

NPCA hopes the designation of La Paz as a national monument will serve as a first step toward preserving all five sites that the National Park Service found to be nationally significant, including a historic 1966 march route from Delano to Sacramento; the hall in Phoenix, Arizona, where Chávez fasted for 24 days; and the former site of the UFW headquarters in Delano, California, known as 40 Acres.

Read NPCA’s press release celebrating this historic designation and learn more about the work of NPCA’s Pacific Regional Office.

NPCA has always believed in expanding the National Park System to protect and interpret a full range of nationally significant natural and cultural sites. In times of tight budgets, it is especially important to be able to make a strong case for new park priorities.

To begin to consider what new parks representing our history and culture should be top priority, we carefully analyzed a thematic framework published in 1996 by the National Park Service. The framework was devised as a tool to help evaluate the cultural and historic significance of places as potential new national park units, for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or for designation as National Historic Landmarks. This framework identifies eight themes. Each theme represents a significant aspect of the human experience:

• Peopling Places
• Creating Social Institutions and Movements
• Expressing Cultural Values
• Shaping the Political Landscape
• Developing the American Economy
• Expanding Science and Technology
• Transforming the Environment
• Changing Role of the United States in the World Community

A single unit of the park system can represent more than one theme, yet we still found significant imbalances in the number of park units that represent each aspect of the human experience.

The themes that are least represented by units in the National Park System are “Expanding Science and Technology” and “Creating Social Institutions and Movements.” By my analysis, 120 parks fit the “Shaping the Political Landscape” theme, while only 15 fit the “Expanding Science and Technology” theme. While there is some subjectivity to how these parks could be categorized and it may not be reasonable to expect equal representation in all categories, such a large discrepancy clearly shows that our priorities are out of balance. Since the framework was published, the National Park Service and legislators have not made very much progress to  ensure adequate representation of all of these themes. Instead, the system has been expanded haphazardly, with more attention paid to the political asset a new park unit represents rather than focusing on the National Park Service’s goal to fully represent American culture and history.

We need a better way to prioritize park expansion, and NPCA is providing ideas and recommendations about how to do so to the National Parks Advisory Board. To do so we have embraced the National Park Service’s thematic framework; if better utilized, the framework could be an effective guide to expanding the park system.

What does this mean? It means we should prioritize filling the gaps in the system, and choose additions that represent these less-represented themes. We should support legislation like the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act (H.R. 5987 and S. 3300). Other potential parks that could fill the existing gaps are out there. It’s our job to find them, protect them, and tell their stories.

-Anna Kohnen, NPCA’s Centennial Intern

If you liked this story, you might also like:

• Preserving the Manhattan Project: Cynthia Kelly and the Atomic Heritage Foundation (May 9, 2012)
• What’s Old Is New Again: Grand Teton Leads the Way in Re-Envisioning Historic Buildings (June 26, 2012)
• The Poacher and the Bootleg Lady: How Funding National Parks Preserves Amazing Stories (July 11, 2012)

The nation’s urban national parks are long-neglected, underfunded, under-used, and often unreachable through public transportation. Yet they are a critical asset that can anchor communities, dramatically improve quality of life, and help maintain our nation’s identity. They are often overlooked compared to iconic western parks like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, yet they provide great recreational and educational opportunities. Many urban parks are also located at ecological intersections and serve as crucial links between larger fragments of our remaining ecosystems.

Last year, the National Park Service issued an inspirational Call to Action, a five-year commitment to bring more people into our parks, increase educational opportunities, and preserve our rich heritage in time for itsthe agency’s centennial celebration in 2016. What does this mean for our urban parks? As society shifts away from rural areas, the Park Service realizes the next five years are the perfect opportunity to tap into urban parks’ potential. The detailed Call to Action outlines at least 36 proposed initiatives that will help achieve this.

Connecting all types of people to parks is one essential initiative in the Call to Action. Community parks are meeting grounds where people of different backgrounds can gather, and places within communities that bond and bind their people. When we truly understand a city’s unique interests and values, we can create thriving urban parks that honor the intersections of race, class, age, physical ability, and gender.

Another initiative would increase access for urban residents via public transportation such as ferries and pedestrian and bike paths, as well as provide new informational maps. Yet another calls for healthy, sustainable food options in park concessions, higher safety standards, and programs to promote outdoor exercise. To further reduce barriers to the parks, heritage programs would help new visitors establish personal connections to the history of the area. Events commemorating anniversaries of historic events, such as moments from the Civil Rights movement, would keep American history alive.

Since national parks are preserved for future generations, inspiring and educating youth is vital. Sites like New York City’s Floyd Bennett Field are within a few miles of more than 1 million schoolchildren in 1,000 schools. Nothing inspires a child to become an activist or conservationist more than connecting to a national park through an internship, job, service project, art project, or recreational trip. Park Rangers plan to encourage students at every national park to participate in special educational programs to help engage new park lovers.

Thanks to a new understanding about the role of cities in preserving natural resources, historical sites, and artifacts, it’s clear that urban parks provide the perfect opportunities to combine new technologies with old traditions for exciting recreational opportunities. The Call to Action is a tremendous opportunity to give all Americans a true national park experience by bringing the parks to the people.

NPCA is participating this week in the Greater and Greener Conference to reimagine urban parks for the 21^st century. Learn more about the conference and the Call to Action, and find a park near you to visit.

Facts about urban parks:

• By 2025, 85 percent of Americans will live in metropolitan areas
• Boston’s park system alone provides recreational opportunities valued at more than $350 million each year
• In Washington, D.C., urban parks are estimated to have added more than $1 billion to property values
• New York’s Central Park is estimated to have added $17.7 billion to adjacent property values
• Park visitors in San Diego add an estimated $40 million a year to the city’s economy
• Urban parks increase public health, community aesthetics, and regional biodiversity
• Urban parks help build cities’ tax bases by attracting new residents in search of high quality of life

 These facts were taken from the Summer 2012 Northeast Regional Field Report available online (PDF, 824 KB) with citations.

In Congress, lawmakers will often take a bill on one thing and “amend” it with legislation on another, totally different issue. And so, as lawmakers hash out the details of the Farm Bill–you know, the gigantic set of policies for food and agriculture programs?–one senator has proposed language that would allow this legislation to affect national parks far into the future. You can take action now to help prevent this harmful language from becoming law.

On Tuesday, Senator James Risch of Idaho offered an amendment to the Farm Bill with language from the “Sportsmen’s Heritage Act”–a dangerous bill that passed the House in April that could open national parks to hunting that were never intended to accommodate the practice. Our recent Q&A on the Sportsmens Heritage Act explains in detail why NPCA strongly opposes the measure and is working to exclude all national park units that do not currently allow hunting from any potential legislation.

NPCA commissioned a legal analysis last month that found serious implications from the proposed hunting language beyond the incompatibility of allowing hunting, shooting, and trapping at historic and educational sites and family vacation spots. If enacted, it could also create lengthy and resource-intensive hurdles for park managers to prohibit hunting on a park-by-park basis, and it could allow environmentally destructive off-road vehicles to travel more extensively through sensitive backcountry areas–anywhere sportsmen needed them to hunt, trap, or fish.

Visit our take action page to speak out against this amendment.

But wait, there’s more. With all of the news and attention around concerns over hunting, another problem with this legislation has been getting less attention: language that would weaken the Antiquities Act.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 allows presidents to designate national monuments on existing federal land to protect important and superlative landscapes, artifacts, wildlife,  and scientific resources from development and other threats. The language in Senator Risch’s amendment would require new hurdles–the approval of state legislatures and governors–to offer these same protections to sites of national significance. This burden would slow preservation efforts at best, and at worst, it could deny protections to culturally valuable lands around the country.  

What’s so important about the Antiquities Act? The Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, the Statue of Liberty, Olympic National Park, Acadia National Park, Fort Monroe National Monument–even Thomas Edison’s lab in Edison, New Jersey–these are just a few of the many places around the country that presidents have preserved thanks to this act. Imagine what these places would look like now if presidents had not taken action to protect them, and how important it is to continue to protect the places the define our history.

Take action here to oppose this harmful amendment.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

NPCA expects Congress to introduce legislation soon that would create a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. This park would encompass three separate sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee that were involved in the top-secret development of the atomic bomb during World War II. Cynthia Kelly, founder and president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation, has been working for more than a decade to preserve this complex part of American history. She has played a lead role in the campaign to create the park and has worked closely with NPCA and other advocates for years. Now, her goal is closer than ever.

The historical park would include the laboratories and living quarters of the Manhattan Project scientists in Los Alamos, the site of the first industrial-scale plutonium reactor known as the “B Reactor” in Hanford, and three facilities for enriching uranium at Oak Ridge.

“These are just three of thirty or forty sites that existed,” explains Kelly. “The map of the United States would look like we had the chicken pox with all these little spots all over it where things happened.”

Kelly has been involved in the planning from the beginning. “I was with the Department of Energy, and in 1997 learned that the Los Alamos National Laboratory was going to destroy all of the Manhattan Project properties that remained,” she recalls. “Most people didn’t even know that they existed, because they were all behind security fences.” She got the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation involved, and its members were impressed with not only the significance but the quality of the properties.

Several years later, after significant public outreach, Kelly founded the Atomic Heritage Foundation and involved the National Park Service in the quest to preserve the sites. Congress authorized a study in 2004; however, the two-year project took seven and a half years to complete due to the complexity of the proposed park.

“There were three sites, not just one, as in a usual park study,” explains Kelly. “It involved three different regional administrators of the National Park Service… plus two agencies. It wasn’t just the Interior, but also the Department of Energy, which owns [the properties].”

Initially, the Park Service recommended only preserving the Los Alamos unit, and not the other two units, “where the work took place, that might be contaminated,” recalls Kelly. Fortunately, this recommendation “galvanized a lot of community support,” and eventually the Park Service was able to carve out an agreement that allowed it to co-manage the properties with the Department of Energy, alleviating many of the maintenance concerns. And after a $100 billion cleanup, Kelly posits, “There’s probably less radioactivity inside the reactor than there is outside, in the sunshine.”

Though Kelly is fascinated by the rich history behind the Manhattan Project properties, she describes another unexpected benefit to preserving the Hanford site in particular: “It’s 580 square miles. Only 10 percent of the land was even used for any purpose, and it’s beautiful. There are 50 miles of the Columbia River with no dams. There are flora and fauna that Lewis and Clark encountered in their travels in 1806 that you can’t find anymore… It’s an ecosystem unto itself.”

Although some groups have opposed the park on the grounds that it glorifies nuclear war, Kelly adamantly defends the importance of preserving the sites.

“It’s not to celebrate it, per se. It’s to commemorate it,” Kelly insists. She adds, “The role that the advocates against nuclear weapons played in the policies and the shape of the Cold War and post-Cold War eras is an important one. Their voice will be heard.”

Don Barger, director of NPCA’s Southeast Regional Office, agrees. “The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nightmares of human experience; they also ended World War II and probably saved thousands of other lives. The death and human suffering as a result of the explosions was so unspeakable that the weapons have not been used since. The entire structure of our thinking, our politics, and our global societal interactions was irrevocably altered by the Manhattan Project,” explains Barger. “If Congress approves this park, the Park Service can help generations of world citizens understand and learn from the significance of that turning point in world history.”

For more on the proposed park and its history, visit the Atomic Heritage Foundation and read a related article in National Parks magazine. For more details on the three different sites or to help plan a visit, you can also check out the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s informative guidebooks.