DISCOVERY 2000 SESSION REPORT

SESSION CODE: L-31r

SESSION TITLE: Parks: Welcoming – or Exclusionary?

SESSION LEADER: David Vela, Superintendent, Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site

SESSION RECORDER: Gerrard Jolly, Rock Creek Park

SUMMARY OF DIALOGUE OR PRESENTATIONS:

Dialogue centered on a variety of themes used during the session. They included: Background on census data, NPS position regarding the relatively low visibility of racial and ethnic minorities in national parks, and theoretical perspectives from academia; A description of a multicultural America; Minority visitation trends; Relevant surveys; Voices from America; A national dialogue between NPS leadership and field personnel; NPS hiring practices; Why Fort Union; and Short and long-range challenges.

MAJOR POINTS OF VISION (IN PURSUIT OF CONFERENCE GOALS):

Identifying and promoting visions and strategies designed to inform and encourage increased visitation and participation by minority populations to their national parks is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Discovery 2000 Conference.

This session asked and answered questions as to whether the Service’s policies and practices welcomes or excludes people of color. Another vision of this session was to identify and counteract problems and or challenges in the short and long-range future.

MAJOR DISSENTS OR CAUTIONS:

There was overall consensus that the current “culture” of the National Park Service helps to contribute to a lack of visitation by minority populations to their national parks. The caution or challenge was to recognize that this premise exists and to work within the existing culture (one park at a time) to address the challenges that we all face.

RECOMMENDED FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS (TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE VISION -- NOT ACTION STEPS TO “IMPLEMENT” IT):

Recommended follow-up actions to develop an inclusive vision for the National Park Service included:

· Develop a better conceptual model to explain racial and ethnic variations and related matters.

· Document the types and range of discrimination and their impact on national park use.

· Evaluate the perceptions, biases and attitudes towards national parks among racial and ethnic minorities.

· Increase the study of Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native American populations.

· Initiate and or expand research on communication issues as they relate to minority use of national parks. Make the parks “real” for all who come to enjoy their national heritage.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

Minorities may not feel that parks are for them, because they do not see other people like them in the parks. Historic relationships/factors (segregation, etc) may deter minorities from visiting parks. Parks represent different things to different cultures. We have an education responsibility to teach people about the values of the NPS. Gateway communities may affect the comfort of visitors to parks, and/or the perception of parks being welcoming or exclusionary.

“We must learn the culture of our minority communities in order to be able to reach out to them, and to let them know that we are mutual custodians of a shared heritage” - David Vela. We must develop relationships within minority and surrounding communities and maintain them like we do with friends groups, or NGOs, etc.