NPS/Liang

Chip Jenkins, Superintendent

Welcome!

On September 27, 2009, filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan will release their newest documentary on PBS, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” Six years in the making, the six-episode, twelve-hour series movingly tells the story of the creation of a national park system that now includes 391 units representing much of our nation’s shared natural and cultural heritage. (Find out more at www.pbs.org/nationalparks.)

Also this fall the National Parks Second Century Commission, comprised of 30 distinguished Americans and co-chaired by former senators Howard H. Baker Jr. and J. Bennett Johnson, will “articulate a bold vision of a future where national parks continue to enrich and ennoble this nation and its citizens.” (Find out more at www.visionfortheparks.org.)

These two remarkable events – the Burn’s documentary with its view to the past, and the Second Century Commission’s vision for the future – are expected to focus unprecedented attention on our national park system. All who are passionate about parks, and their role in our society and democracy, should welcome this attention. Many will be moved to ask, “What can I do to help? How can I become involved with our national parks?” Here are some ideas:

• Visit the parks, all of them. Come visit the North Cascades National Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Visit the other ten national park units in Washington. Visit the other national seashores, memorials, battlefields and other park units throughout America. Experience these remarkable places first hand and have fun doing it.
• Introduce someone new to the park. Bring a family member, a friend, a co-worker, neighbor or friend of your kids who have never visited the North Cascades. Help a kid become a Junior Ranger.
• Become a steward. These are your parks and you can help take care of them by spending a day, a weekend, or even a summer as a park volunteer. Volunteer projects are fun and a great way to meet people. North Cascades, like all parks, has an active volunteer program and depend on volunteers to help care for this place.
• Donate to your favorite park. Private donations have always played an important role in caring for and connecting people to their parks. Donations have helped to fund the creation of a new Junior Ranger Program, interpretive shelter at the Diablo Lake overlook, rare plant surveys and care of the historic Buchner Orchard in Stehekin. National park license plate sales in Washington State provide funding to Washington’s National Park Fund (www.wnpf.org), which in turn provides grants to North Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Olympic National Parks.
• Support organizations that connect young people to parks and the outdoors. The North Cascades Institute (www.ncascades.org) serves as our primary education partner and together our partnership brings thousands of kids to the North Cascades each year.

We are the beneficiaries of an incredibly rich heritage of parks and public lands. These are a gift to us from preceding generations. Working individually and together we can pass this heritage, and more, to the next generation; to our kids and our grandchildren. What greater gift can we give?

Chip Jenkins
Superintendent