The threats in the national parks are an expression of the problems we have as a society.
Development encroaching to their very boundaries and destroying important wildlife areas.
Vandalism, dumping trash.
Air pollution, power plant sources and auto emissions.
Have helicopter over flights.
Drilling or pumping of ground water.
There are so many elected and appointed officials that just seem to have no feeling for something
like this at all.
Today the biggest problems are not big bucks, but really people getting involved, sensitized
about what's happening in the park and then watching after the research, the resources
management, the interpretation, basically the resources.
Since 1919 the National Parks and Conservation Association has fought to preserve, to protect
and to expand our natural, cultural and historic treasures.
NPCA's efforts are possible because of the grassroots participation of their extraordinary
members.
I'm a laboratory geneticist, but of course I have a tremendous reverence for life that
is part of my profession too and the constant wonder of it.
I think in terms of the needs for doing something for parks it's becoming painfully obvious
that there aren't enough of them and that the ones that we have are not protected enough
around the periphery, that there are all these outside encroachments on them.
All of our parks are experiencing problems with adjacent development.
All of the things that we as a society do and that we go to parks to escape are exactly
what the adjacent development brings in.
When I started this position with NPCA I found that the places that I naturally gravitated
toward were those places that there were citizen groups on the ground because those were the
places where I found that I could be effective.
When people care about their park that is an enthusiasm that translates to the kind
of action that results in genuine protection.
Sometimes NPCA is the Park Service's greatest critic, but it can also be one of the agency's
strongest advocates.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its
creed.
In Atlanta the Sweet Auburn community was home and birthplace to Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.
Congress established Sweet Auburn as a National Historic Site and Preservation District in
1980, but no funds were allocated for its restoration and development.
I think those things being represented here in this community had a very good chance of
being lost.
It's significant in terms of Martin Luther King because he grew up in this community
and he saw many examples of the beloved community which he espoused numerous times in his work
as a park service.
NPCA helped the Park Service win the legislative battle for $10 million to preserve Dr. King's
historic community.
NPCA came to us at a time when we were having some problems seeking the funds to finally
complete the development here at the National Historic Site.
But NPCA offered assistance to us in terms of being an advocate for the park and for
the completion of its development and worked hand in hand as sort of a middleman between
ourselves and the committees in Congress.
At the edge of a growing Albuquerque, New Mexico is a remarkable collection of Native
American art, not preserved on canvas but etched into stone.
These ancient images lie within Petroglyph National Monument.
As the city encroaches on the very boundaries of the park, a major highway threatens to
cut this sacred ground in two.
The thing I'm worried about is all this, these petroglyphs here on this site will be either
destroyed or removed or even trash will come down.
This area has been used by our Pueblo people for many, many, many centuries I think.
And it's a sacred area and we can't understand why you want to come and destroy it by making
a road through here.
Our petroglyphs are there.
Once they're there, they should stay there.
Plus we are only 5,900 people in all five Pueblos and Albuquerque is near in half a
million people.
We don't have much voice.
When groups of non-Indians come and help us, that's where the numbers are.
Well, the Friends of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs is a local grassroots organization and we
network with local, state and national groups to try to focus attention on this particular
issue.
And NPCA is one of those groups and NPCA has been very helpful and very supportive.
They've given us access, for instance, to Washington, which is a whole political arena
that we're not very familiar with.
And so we all work together like links in a chain.
I think one of the most important things about Petroglyph National Monument is its representation
of our commitment to work with broad spectrums of groups to acknowledge the cultural diversity
of our country and work cooperatively with all groups in our country to pursue a common
heritage and protect our common heritage.
It's critical for the future of the parks that the park service, that the state of Alaska
know that American citizens are concerned about the parks.
We work with the state, but the parks in Alaska are not owned by simply a half a million people
in the state of Alaska.
They are owned by several hundred million people in the United States.
They are large units and they are units in which people, in fact, even whole communities,
are often located in the ecosystem.
A lot of what NPCA does in Alaska is to work between the park service, the state of Alaska,
Alaska Native interests.
We are not the government.
We don't manage the parks, but we have the ability to move between the different interests
to try to solve some problems.
NPCA members are also working to create a new international park where the North Cascades
borders British Columbia.
This is a huge ecosystem that transcends beyond our international border.
And what we're trying to do, what NPCA is trying to do, is work on a grassroots level
to initiate some type of protection of the North Cascades ecosystem by linking these
lands both in the United States, but also more so with Canada in an international park
and special management area.
Parks are not postcards.
They are not places we can draw a line around as you put a frame around a picture.
They're living systems and air, water, wildlife move in and out.
And so we can't protect a park unless we are a good steward of a larger system of which
that park is a part.
And now the future of the system really does continue to turn on the continued vision and
vigilance of citizens today.
And as a regional director for NPCA, I can testify firsthand that we couldn't even hold
the line, much less make progress in protecting parks without the help of citizens.
In most cases, the real monuments to the success of citizen efforts to protect parks though
are invisible.
They are the lack of a coal strip mine next to Bryce Canyon National Park.
They are the fact that gravel mining has not proceeded in Grand Teton National Park.
They are no oil and gas wells next to Holman Reef National Monument.
Hopefully they will be no gold mine next to Yellowstone National Park.
So it's kind of funny when people say, well, show us the results of this wonderful citizen
activism that NPCA has helped to organize and has joined forces with.
And what I have to point to is a beautiful vista unintuitive by modern developments.
This is the end of a very important century for the environmental movement.
The whole century has been filled with testing different approaches, be it the federal solution,
the Washington way, if you will, the grassroots structure, the reliance totally on community
leadership.
And what's very important to us is to realize that all those are part of the future, that
all those are part of the solution.
We've got to have Washington there, but we've got to have the citizen leaders actively involved
in really determining the future direction for the parks and for the environment for
the 21st century.
As we enter the 21st century, there is still much work to be done.
But as long as citizens want and care about natural and historic wonders and desire to
preserve them for the enjoyment of future generations, the National Parks and Conservation
Association will be on the front lines, working with every like-minded American citizen to
protect and improve the quality of our national park system and to promote an understanding
appreciation and sense of personal commitment to park lands.
The threats facing our national parks are growing in severity, number, and frequency.
Without the continuing support of members like you, we simply would not be able to carry
on our successful fight to protect America's national treasures.
Funds from you and other members fund over 74 percent of NPCA's protection efforts.
And this past year, your financial support has been especially helpful.
Please, join with the more than 450,000 individuals who believe in protecting our national parks
and renew your NPCA membership today.
Thank you.