Fort McHenry is a source of fierce pride for the residents of Baltimore. It is here that our citizens stopped the British Navy from attacking the city during the Battle of Baltimore in September of 1814. The flag that flew over the fort the morning after the battle not only signaled a defensive victory, but inspired a young lawyer, watching from a nearby ship, to compose a poem that would eventually become our national anthem. I visited that exact same flag this past weekend. It’s currently on display at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. I grew up in this area and have taken many trips to the museums in Washington throughout my life. I’ve seen this flag several times. This one object, more than any other, inspires a personal sense of patriotism and continues to make me reflect on the events that happened at Fort McHenry in Baltimore almost 200 years ago. 

Now, I get to visit Fort McHenry several times a month. It is the location of the National Aquarium’s urban field station. Adjacent to the fort is a ten-acre wetland created by the Maryland Department of Transportation as mitigation for constructing the I-95 tunnel that runs just offshore of the park. After years of inattention, the National Aquarium took over stewardship of the wetland in 1998 for use as an urban outdoor classroom and site for community-based stewardship activities and citizen science. We’ve hosted thousands of local students at the wetland site. Sometimes, it is the first time Baltimore City students get a chance to make a meaningful connection to the natural world. Students may have a chance to seine for fish (up to 20 species have been identified using the wetlands), bird watch (more than 250 species have been documented at the fort), plant native plants in the wetland or demonstration rain garden, or study wetland ecology. They may also have a chance to observe any of the large variety of animals that use the marsh for food or shelter. The list includes river otter, muskrat, deer, fox, and many species of turtle and snake. 

Every spring, the National Aquarium partners with the National Park Service, NPCA, and others to recruit volunteers to restore this vital habitat. Volunteers represent the diversity of the Baltimore community and come from local community associations, corporations, schools, churches, civic groups, social clubs, and other venues. Like us, our volunteers see real value in creating a healthy habitat for local wildlife and a much-needed outdoor classroom space for students. Since volunteer efforts began, citizens have helped plant native trees and marsh grasses, install bird boxes, and collect nearly 600,000 pieces of debris from this urban wetland. This work all adds up to create a valuable green space in the heart of Baltimore City.

Our next event will be held April 27, 2013, in celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day. If you would like to help support our restoration and environmental education efforts at the fort, check out our ioby project page. If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer, please register here.

If you liked this story, you might also like

• “A Gift of the Whole People”: How Crowdfunding Can Help Revitalize National Parks (February 25, 2013)
• Want to Feel Happy and Appreciated? Help Out at a National Park (November 30, 2012)
• O Say, Can You See the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail? (August 7, 2012)

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

The Japanese government gave more than three thousand flowering cherry trees to the people of the United States as a gift of friendship back in 1912, and the annual blossoming of pink petals is one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. Some 1,800 trees line the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River, with more than a thousand other trees in eleven different varieties standing proudly at the White House and nearby East Potomac Park. The delicate flowers symbolize the transience of life, and area residents come to understand the appeal of this fleeting magic. The trees seem to go from peak bloom to piles of petals on the ground in the blink of an eye, and I know all too well how easy it is to miss the showy display. 

This year, planners project the trees will reach peak bloom next week. To celebrate, a popular local blog, the Capital Weather Gang, recently shared historic photos of these majestic blooms from the Library of Congress, including one of my favorites below, of Peggy Townsend, the Cherry Blossom Queen of 1939.

Don’t try this pose nowadays, though—climbing in the trees could harm them and prevent robust future blooms. If you’re caught in the branches, you could even get a warning from a guy in a beaver costume.

More than a hundred years later, I’m happy to report these blooms are still a stunning part of our park system. Though you may need to fight through a crowd of a million people to get a glimpse of them, it’s worth it for a chance to see the timeless beauty of transience up-close and perfectly pink. For more information, visit http://www.nps.gov/cherry/index.htm.

-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.

The disease is caused by a fungus that generally spreads from bat to bat, although people can also carry the spores on shoes and clothing. (Humans can’t contract the disease.) In caves where the animals were exposed to the disease for a year or longer, some types of bats suffered mortality rates of 90 percent or higher, raising the real risk of extinction for some species. Park officials at Mammoth Cave began taking precautions two years ago to reduce the possible spread of white-nose syndrome, including the use of decontamination mats to prevent the spores from clinging to visitors’ shoes. Now, the Park Service is launching a wider public information campaign.

This week, the Park Service released a series of three videos, Bats in Crisis, to help spread public awareness about the importance of bats in pollination and pest control, the deadliness of white-nose syndrome to bat populations, and ways that park visitors can prevent the spread of infection. Bat lovers and tourists to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southern states, take note.

Watch the other two videos in the series on the Park Service website.

The national parks that have reported bats with white-nose syndrome are: Acadia National Park (Maine), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park (Washington, D.C, Maryland, and West Virginia), Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (Georgia and Tennessee), Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia), Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (New Jersey and Pennsylvania), Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee), Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky), New River Gorge National River (West Virginia), Ozark National Scenic Riverways (Missouri), and Russell Cave National Monument (Alabama).

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Learn more

• Bat populations are in decline around the world. Learn more about the problem at Bat Conservation International.
• Learn how to build a bat house to help protect bats near you on NPCA’s website.

This Sunday, many national park supporters will keep their hiking boots in the closet and get their blood pumping in a different way: by cheering their favorite teams to victory when the San Francisco 49ers face the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl. With national parks—as well as NPCA staff—based in both teams’ hometowns, two NPCA colleagues defend their turf in our first-ever national park smackdown!

What city do you think has the best national parks? Vote in our Super Bowl park poll!

In the Western corner: San Francisco

-Kati Schmidt, Senior Media Relations Manager and lifelong 49ers fan

As one of the most visited sites in our National Park System with more than 13 million annual visitors, Golden Gate National Recreation Area is as diverse, stunningly gorgeous, and steeped in history as San Francisco, the City by the Bay, itself. Nearly half of this park’s featured sites are within the city limits, and I consider myself lucky to call it my “home” park. A favorite setting for Hollywood blockbusters, its beauty is an easy walk, jog, or public transit ride from my front door, as well as rest of the city. While a love letter to Golden Gate National Recreation Area could easily elevate from sonnet to epic saga, in the name of brevity, I’ll call out a few of my favorite ways to experience the park:

• The Land’s End trail offers hiking and labyrinth-walking along the coast, with jaw-dropping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and sailboats traveling in and out of the city’s fog veil. The trail winds down to Sutro Baths, a former swimmable playground for many and, in recent months, home to a lovable river otter, aptly named “Sutro Sam.”
• Alcatraz is a must-see attraction for global visitors, and my most memorable experience there came last summer, when I braved chilly bay waters to swim from “The Rock” to shore–landing at yet another national treasure, the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
• My weekend jogs feature Ocean Beach as a turnaround point. This beach beckons visitors to climb windswept sand dunes, stroll the shoreline, or just scope out surfers.
• My first San Francisco home was in the Presidio, where Ohlone natives originally lived and where numerous battles were waged, before the U.S. Army took control in 1846.

Our beloved San Francisco 49ers rally cry says it all as far as Golden Gate National Recreation Area and our city is concerned: “Who’s Got it Better Than Us?! Nobody!!!”

In the Eastern corner: Baltimore

-Ed Stierli, Steve & Roberta Denning Land Conservation Fellow and die-hard fan of all things Chesapeake

You’ll get a taste of Baltimore in the Superdome this weekend when Ravens fans show support for their city with a thunderous “OH!” as Alicia Keyes hits the high notes of the Star-Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Key never could have predicted this lyrical change, but he would be proud of the city that valiantly defended America’s freedom (while San Francisco was still a part of Spain). Stories from the War of 1812 and the landscape of the Chesapeake Bay make the Baltimore region the most unique city for national parks in the United States.

Why we are the best Bay Area:

• Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine—This site is the only such doubly designated national park and one of the country’s last standing star-shaped forts. After the burning of Washington, DC, during the War of 1812, the fort bravely defended Baltimore and repelled the British Navy, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner. Almost one million visitors come to the fort each year, which also is home to a sprawling wetland.
• The Chesapeake Bay—North America’s largest estuary is home to more than 3,600 species of plants and animals. The bay’s watershed encompasses 54 national parks, and its iconic skipjacks, oysters, ospreys, and Cypress trees are unrivaled.
• Water Trails—Baltimore is home to not one, but two congressionally designated water trails: the Captain John Smith Chesapeake and Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trails. Both offer an outdoor paradise with thousands of miles for boating, fishing, hiking, and birding throughout one of the most beautiful landscapes in America.
• Charm City—Babe Ruth, Edgar Allan Poe, and the cast of Hairspray have all called Baltimore home. The city has more than 56,000 buildings listed in 52 National Register historic districts, providing a bustling National Heritage Area. Ask anyone who frequents historic Fells Point, a neighborhood which transports visitors back to when Baltimore was a “nest of pirates.”
• Blue Crabs—The Dungeness has nothing on Maryland Blue Crabs. The Maryland state crustacean is a favorite for crab cakes or steamed with some Old Bay. Crabcakes and football, that’s what Maryland does.

Is your heart in San Francisco? Does Charm City have the real charm? You decide the most Super City for Parks! Vote for your favorite in the poll above to help us crown the winner!

At the peak of the fall season, the trees along the George Washington Memorial Parkway are alive with color. This scenic roadway is one of the most-visited parts of the National Park System, and an autumn drive along this stretch of the Potomac River in the Mid-Atlantic is a joy for tourists and locals alike. Sycamores and tulip trees, dogwoods and maples—these Virginia hardwoods greet visitors with a dazzling display of scarlet and gold.

Now, as fall gives way to winter, the only splashes of color are green. Most of them belong there: Virginia pine, American holly, and an assortment of native ground covers. But as I drove the parkway to NPCA’s Washington, D.C., office this week, I was struck by the proliferation of greenery that the woods could do without: English ivy.

Since its introduction by European colonists in the 18th century, English ivy (Hedera helix) has tangled itself in our culture, from the halls of Princeton to holiday wreaths. And because of its durability and glossy appearance, it remains a popular ornamental, planted as a ground cover by unwitting homeowners.

Unfortunately, English ivy is an invasive species, and an aggressive one at that. It spreads readily by runners or by birds that disperse its seeds, and can quickly form a canopy that crowds out the native species of the forest understory. Even large trees are at risk; along several stretches of the Parkway, entire mature trees are wrapped from trunk to top by the ivy, which deprives them of sunlight and sends them into a steady decline that will eventually kill them—if the weight of the vines doesn’t help to bring them down in a storm first. 

Because the parkway is adjacent to residential neighborhoods, it is particularly susceptible to infestation by English ivy, which, along with other invasive species like bush honeysuckle and kudzu, creates an ongoing challenge for the National Park Service staff and volunteers who regularly gather to remove them. But the problem isn’t an isolated one. Present in 18 states and the District of Columbia, English ivy has been reported as invasive in national parks from Shenandoah to Yosemite.

This holiday season, as many of us are making our New Year’s resolutions—and going through seed catalogs planning our spring gardens—you can make a few easy changes that benefit your neighborhood and your parks.

How you can help

• Choose native plants. A variety of ornamental vines and ground covers make better landscape alternatives to ivy, and choosing plants that are adapted to your region can be a great benefit for birds and other wildlife, too.
• Lend a hand. Most parks offer volunteers the opportunity to put on some gloves and help to remove invaders.
• Learn more. Taking a few simple steps when you garden, hike, and boat can help to reduce the spread of invasives and the risk to parks.

Chesapeake Explorer App

This free app was released in October 2012 by the National Park Service to guide your exploration of the national parks, and the Captain John Smith, Star-Spangled Banner, and Potomac Heritage National Trails. By tracking your location, it can help you experience historic and natural sites nearby offering activities such as bicycling, birding, hiking, and fishing. It provides information for each park about its hours, activities, and fees. Perfect for a tour of a treasured historic site, such as Fort Monroe, or for exploring hidden Chesapeake wonders.

For download information, visit http://www.chesapeakeexplorerapp.com/.

National Wildlife Refuges: Chesapeake Bay App

Also released in October 2012, this free field guide allows you to share your wildlife encounters at 11 iconic National Wildlife Refuges within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Powered by Project Noah, National Geographic and the Chesapeake Conservancy developed this app. Identify thousands of species of plants and animals while connecting with a community of outdoor enthusiasts to promote conservation. Download this for iPhone and iPad in the AppStore. I’m still trying to earn the squirrel badge.

Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System App

This free app is a must-have for boaters or anyone tracking weather and water conditions in the Chesapeake. Created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Chesapeake Conservancy, ten yellow “smart buoys” strategically placed on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail track weather and water conditions. You can access the data from these buoys to monitor wave height, water quality, and air and water temperatures in the bay, as well as the James, Patapsco, Potomac, and Susquehanna Rivers. Recently, Meteorologists used the buoys to track conditions during Hurricane Sandy. Learn more about the “smart buoys” and download the app for iPhone or Android at http://buoybay.noaa.gov/.

Take action

Unfortunately, the future of the buoys is uncertain due to lack of funding. Tell Congress to keep these buoys afloat.

Learn more about NPCA’s efforts to protect the landscapes of the national parks in the Chesapeake.

-Edward Stierli, Steve & Roberta Denning Land Conservation Fellow

I got to see that look first-hand when I joined 11 other staff members from NPCA on a volunteer service project at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia earlier this month. It was our task to help install 120 feet of post and rail fencing along a ridge in the historic lower town. As far as projects go, it was not that complex an operation. Yet with park budgets on the decline and Park Service personnel spread increasingly thin, it was the sort of work that might have gone undone for weeks, months, or even years, had it not been for volunteers and a commitment on the part of the park staff to recruit and manage our labor.

In my day job, I work as a legislative representative. I help our champions in Congress and in communities all across the country to advance legislation and policies that benefit our National Park System. As wonderful as that work is, it can often take multiple sessions of Congress and many years to enact a bill or designate a park. Volunteering in a national park provides a more immediate sense of satisfaction. There are 120 feet of historic fencing on a ridge at Harpers Ferry that wasn’t up the morning my colleagues and I arrived. We built that fence together and have the splinters and sore muscles to proudly show for it.

Somewhere, as you read this, there’s a national park with a backlog maintenance project that needs doing. I urge you to lend a hand and help protect the most special places on the American landscape. My colleagues and I can’t wait to go back to Harpers Ferry and help out again. I can already see the smile on the face of the volunteer coordinator.

Get more information on volunteering at http://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/volunteer.htm.

-Alan Spears, Legislative Representative

“Shhh … He’s sleeping!”

“I think I saw him blink!”

Over the course of the week, nearly 1,000 urban youth in Washington, DC, explored the landscape of the Anacostia River, a part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, with the Urban Canoe Wilderness Adventure, a partnership project organized by NPCA, Wilderness Inquiry, the National Park Service, National Park Trust, and others. NPCA is partnering with a variety of groups throughout the Chesapeake watershed to bring awareness to landscape conservation efforts and promote outreach to advocates of all ages, including our youngest future stewards.

With 80 percent of America’s youth living in urban areas, it has never been more important to connect children with the great outdoors and our national parks. With our new National Parks in the Chesapeake campaign, NPCA has been engaging youth by restoring wetlands and planting grasses at Fort McHenry and along the water trails of the Chesapeake. Other projects have involved partner groups, NPCA members, and community youth in building new educational areas and birdhouses.

The kids involved understand that the national parks in their community make their backyard a whole lot bigger, and just like the other things they own at home, it’s important to protect and take care of them. With our parks increasingly at risk, we think it’s important to take time to explore them with our kids, classrooms, or the youth in our communities. They are the future generations we protect the parks for, and the growing stewards that must advocate for the generations to come.

Planning your Chesapeake adventure has never been easier. Download the Park Service’s free new smartphone app at www.chesapeakeexplorerapp.com.

Visit our website to learn more about the National Parks in the Chesapeake campaign.

-Edward Stierli, Steve & Roberta Denning Land Conservation Fellow