There's only 58! No, I'm not talking about the number of Democratic senators who will vote for the public option, against a filibuster, or for the climate bill. In my last Hike On! diary, I polled people on the number of national parks. I'm pleased to say that 36 of you got it right -- there's only 58 national parks, but 391 units in the national park system counting national seashores, national monuments, national historic sites, national recreation areas, and similar sites.
This week's edition of Hike On! explores two political aspects of the parks. Wilderness designation in Utah is an ongoing struggle, while signs are better for a similar acquisition in New Mexico, up for a hearing this Thursday. The stories that are told about the parks are stories we tell about ourselves; with a new National Park Service director, different -- and better -- stories will be told about the parks and the people.
HR 1925, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2009, is a comprehensive bill that would designate as wilderness public lands acreage in Utah near (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase-Escalante; (4) Moab-La Sal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. It has 146 cosponsors, none of whom live in Utah. It has serious star power. The human star is Robert Redford, describing our chance to be present at the creation. His star power is eclipsed by the land itself; he says "I am still awed by the beauty of their serpentine canyons and alcoves filled with stone houses built by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. I have profoundly inspiring memories of the time I've spent hiking with my family under sculpted arches, through pink sand dunes and across mesas that open up to a sea of redrock vistas."
Last Thursday, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, chaired by hero Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), held a hearing on ARRWA. (The Senate equivalent, S 799, has been referred to the Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. No hearing is scheduled.) In news that will come as an utter shock to Utah residents, the entirety of Utah's Congressional delegation supported the bill, distributed ponies to all present, and rode off into the sunset opposed the bill. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (map credit to SUWA) put on a positive spin: "what was noticeably absent from the discussion was a condemnation of wilderness. Each Utah member of Congress acknowledged the importance of protecting wilderness. This is a far cry from the rhetoric we heard years ago opposing the very concept of wilderness." SUWA and other enviro groups are prepared to be persistent in their goal of protecting these lands from uses and abuses such as oil and gas mining, uranium exploration, and offroad vehicle use. The rocks have been there for millions of years, and people are beginning to realize the value of saving the lands for the next generations.
ARRWA has enough Congressional support to pass, if only one Utah representative could be found to support it. This battle may not be won until after the 2010 election, but it's a battle that should not be abandoned.
250,000 acres near Las Cruces, New Mexico may meet a better fate. The Energy & Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), will hold a hearing on S. 1689, a bill to designate certain land in New Mexico as wilderness. That bill is sponsored by...Jeff Bingaman, and cosponsored by Tom Udall (D-NM). It stands a better chance than ARRWA. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance explains the care taken to obtain local support: polls of residents, praise from a sportsmen's alliance, support from a local chamber of commerce, and resolutions from four local governments. The bill will protect rare grasslands in the Potrillo and Uvas Mountains, petroglyph sites and riparian areas in Broad Canyon, crucial watersheds, and the iconic spires of Las Cruces’ signature attraction: the Organ Mountains. Senators Bingaman and Udall are listening to the residents of their state and deserve praise for moving the bill forward.
The story of America's parks is the story of America. During the Bush years, National Park Service rangers were ordered not to engage in "mission creep" -- discussion of biodiversity or anything remotely smacking of environmental advocacy. Jon Jarvis, new director of the NPS, will change that. As director of the Western region during the Bush years, he knows that climate change is the parks' biggest challenge. He's up for big challenges; he was perhaps the most outspoken critic of Bush's plan to commercialize the parks, while doing outreach to Spanish speaking visitors in West Coast parks and making the parks carbon neutral. He's change that the parks can believe in. In his first interview since being confirmed, this struck me as a dramatic example of a shift in the stories that we tell about our parks and about ourselves:
Rangers' storytelling -- called "interpretation" in the park service -- will also shift. Jarvis said that rangers at Civil War battlefields now spend less time telling visitors where the Confederate and Union armies lined up for Pickett's charge and more time discussing slavery and civil rights. Those issues are more relevant to today's society, he said.
Imagine that.
Imagine what stories we can tell as we witness the creation of Organ Mountain Wilderness and Red Rock Wilderness.
Hike On! is my weekly series exploring, and advocating for, national parks and other wild places, published every Tuesday at 5 PM Pacific time when not obsessing over climate. Want to continue discussing the parks after watching Ken Burns' show? Bring your stories, questions, comments, philosophy, and -- best of all -- photos. Because we can never have too much eye candy. (Photo credit: me, at YOSE.)