Who Cares?
So what? Why should I care? These are the ultimate questions as an interpreter you hope to provoke in people as they visit the units in the National Park System… but what is an interpreter anyways? Why should your tax dollars be spent on such a position? And is it even important?
National Parks were set aside to ‘preserve and protect for future generations as well as the benefit and the enjoyment for all people.’ They represent a part of our human legacy in the United States. We are able to come to these places and connect with the land, learn the stories of people past, sanctuaries for wildlife, and laboratories for both scientists and citizens alike. Without these places we would be missing a part of who we are. The fact that millions of people from ALL over the world come EVERY year to visit these grand places is a testament to their importance not just to the United States but also on a global level.
So, who owns the National Parks… The National Park Service, the President, or some wealthy no-name person? No, YOU and I own these incredible places, the everyday citizens of the United States of America. They are ours to enjoy, but more importantly they are OURS to protect. Now, why would you want to go protecting something you don’t care about or know nothing about at all; in fact you may never get to even visit these places… if they are not relevant are they worth protecting?
That is where the line of work I do comes into play. I don’t write tickets if someone is not obeying the law, I don’t preach to people on what they should and should not do, I also don’t just recite a bunch of non-sense facts over and over again to bore people. I provoke… or at least I try to.
Interpreters in my line of work don’t speak another language they speak the language of place. We spend our days researching these places, becoming familiar with them, and immersing ourselves into the resource. We too want to know… so what?! The facts are always important as they give us the foundation of our understanding. From there we take the information gained and use it as the building blocks to make connections that everyone might be able to associate with.
Take for example here at Grand Canyon National Park the people who once called this place home 800 some years ago survived by planting corns, beans, and squash. There are few people who would connect with the idea of being a farmer and growing their crops, the people that understand that lifestyle may be able to easily connect with that idea. But for the vast majority of folks who visit Grand Canyon that is not true so by throwing in words like home and survival into the statement above you are able to connect with a wider variety of people. Most everyone can connect with the idea of home, and what it is to call a place home and also the idea of survival. Those two terms are just as relevant today as they were back then and that is how you make the connection between the facts and the relevancy of them.
Now I’m not going to go giving away the ‘secrets’ of interpretation but it’s important. If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘if the walls could talk…’ essentially that is what our line of work entails; telling those stories and creating a connection. If we’ve done our job properly one should be able to go away with a new understanding and appreciation of place as it was the grandfather of interpretation Freeman Tilden who said:
"Through interpretation, understanding; through understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection."
He could not have been more right. These places are all protected for one reason or another but each place has a unique story to be told that can connect with us on a deeper level. So you tell me… are these places important? Imagine a world with no Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Everglades, Denali, Wind Cave, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, and so many more. We would be missing a part of who we are because being a citizen of this country also gives you the privilege of being a part of these amazing places! Ownership gives one the sense of stewardship; a majority of us like to take care of what is ours! National Parks are just as an American idea as baseball and apple pie, and often thought be America’s Best Idea.
Working in this field for awhile now I am greeted and entertained by folks from all walks of life and from all over the world and although they all have their differences they can agree upon one thing and that is the importance of National Parks. Visitors from within the United States thanking me for what I do when in fact they are the owners of these places and folks from other countries saying what a great job the United States National Park Service does in managing these places and what a wonderful thing we have going on.
Unfortunately for us sometimes we don’t know what we have until it is gone and that would be a devastating way of learning the importance of these places. It was through an act of congress in 1872 that Yellowstone National Park was created, the world’s first National Park, and in 1916, that also through the act of congress, the National Park Service as an agency was created. Just as ‘easy’ as it was to sign park’s existence into law it is just as ‘easy’ to sign them out. With our current economic issues we see the fate of National Parks being tested. Financial crunches are testing the management at these locations as they are making sacrifices to keep these places operational and enjoyable to visitors. It comes at a cost and eventually there can come a point where there is nothing more to do but ‘bar them up’ or ‘sell them off.’ I hope for the sake of all people both present, past, and future that never happens! I like to think that the work interpreters do for our National Parks are important… giving you the story, making a connection, and letting you, the visitor, decide if these places are worth something?
Personally I would be devastated without the National Parks, as referred to in many blogs prior… I bleed green and gray. I do not work for this agency to become wealthy, I sure the heck don’t receive any type of stability from the job, and although I do look pretty darn good in the ranger hat J it’s because of what these places stand for and how they’ve helped to shape and alter my life that I feel they are worth something. John Muir referred to our National Parks as churches and cathedrals where people could come to separate themselves from the ‘norms of society’ and escape to a place we have always been… one with the land. I am in love with National Parks, my job is more than a profession my job is my passion.
So think of a time you spent at a National Park and how that made you feel and then imagine the people who come after us not even having the opportunity to have those experiences, that sounds like a dull life. It’s up to you and I to go explore these places, learn of their secrets, and share those stories with the rest of the world, it is only then can we protect the future of our National Parks!
That’s right, their future lies in YOUR hands!!!
National Parks were set aside to ‘preserve and protect for future generations as well as the benefit and the enjoyment for all people.’ They represent a part of our human legacy in the United States. We are able to come to these places and connect with the land, learn the stories of people past, sanctuaries for wildlife, and laboratories for both scientists and citizens alike. Without these places we would be missing a part of who we are. The fact that millions of people from ALL over the world come EVERY year to visit these grand places is a testament to their importance not just to the United States but also on a global level. So, who owns the National Parks… The National Park Service, the President, or some wealthy no-name person? No, YOU and I own these incredible places, the everyday citizens of the United States of America. They are ours to enjoy, but more importantly they are OURS to protect. Now, why would you want to go protecting something you don’t care about or know nothing about at all; in fact you may never get to even visit these places… if they are not relevant are they worth protecting?
That is where the line of work I do comes into play. I don’t write tickets if someone is not obeying the law, I don’t preach to people on what they should and should not do, I also don’t just recite a bunch of non-sense facts over and over again to bore people. I provoke… or at least I try to.
Interpreters in my line of work don’t speak another language they speak the language of place. We spend our days researching these places, becoming familiar with them, and immersing ourselves into the resource. We too want to know… so what?! The facts are always important as they give us the foundation of our understanding. From there we take the information gained and use it as the building blocks to make connections that everyone might be able to associate with. Take for example here at Grand Canyon National Park the people who once called this place home 800 some years ago survived by planting corns, beans, and squash. There are few people who would connect with the idea of being a farmer and growing their crops, the people that understand that lifestyle may be able to easily connect with that idea. But for the vast majority of folks who visit Grand Canyon that is not true so by throwing in words like home and survival into the statement above you are able to connect with a wider variety of people. Most everyone can connect with the idea of home, and what it is to call a place home and also the idea of survival. Those two terms are just as relevant today as they were back then and that is how you make the connection between the facts and the relevancy of them.
Now I’m not going to go giving away the ‘secrets’ of interpretation but it’s important. If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘if the walls could talk…’ essentially that is what our line of work entails; telling those stories and creating a connection. If we’ve done our job properly one should be able to go away with a new understanding and appreciation of place as it was the grandfather of interpretation Freeman Tilden who said:
"Through interpretation, understanding; through understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection."
He could not have been more right. These places are all protected for one reason or another but each place has a unique story to be told that can connect with us on a deeper level. So you tell me… are these places important? Imagine a world with no Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Everglades, Denali, Wind Cave, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, and so many more. We would be missing a part of who we are because being a citizen of this country also gives you the privilege of being a part of these amazing places! Ownership gives one the sense of stewardship; a majority of us like to take care of what is ours! National Parks are just as an American idea as baseball and apple pie, and often thought be America’s Best Idea. Working in this field for awhile now I am greeted and entertained by folks from all walks of life and from all over the world and although they all have their differences they can agree upon one thing and that is the importance of National Parks. Visitors from within the United States thanking me for what I do when in fact they are the owners of these places and folks from other countries saying what a great job the United States National Park Service does in managing these places and what a wonderful thing we have going on.
Unfortunately for us sometimes we don’t know what we have until it is gone and that would be a devastating way of learning the importance of these places. It was through an act of congress in 1872 that Yellowstone National Park was created, the world’s first National Park, and in 1916, that also through the act of congress, the National Park Service as an agency was created. Just as ‘easy’ as it was to sign park’s existence into law it is just as ‘easy’ to sign them out. With our current economic issues we see the fate of National Parks being tested. Financial crunches are testing the management at these locations as they are making sacrifices to keep these places operational and enjoyable to visitors. It comes at a cost and eventually there can come a point where there is nothing more to do but ‘bar them up’ or ‘sell them off.’ I hope for the sake of all people both present, past, and future that never happens! I like to think that the work interpreters do for our National Parks are important… giving you the story, making a connection, and letting you, the visitor, decide if these places are worth something?
Personally I would be devastated without the National Parks, as referred to in many blogs prior… I bleed green and gray. I do not work for this agency to become wealthy, I sure the heck don’t receive any type of stability from the job, and although I do look pretty darn good in the ranger hat J it’s because of what these places stand for and how they’ve helped to shape and alter my life that I feel they are worth something. John Muir referred to our National Parks as churches and cathedrals where people could come to separate themselves from the ‘norms of society’ and escape to a place we have always been… one with the land. I am in love with National Parks, my job is more than a profession my job is my passion.So think of a time you spent at a National Park and how that made you feel and then imagine the people who come after us not even having the opportunity to have those experiences, that sounds like a dull life. It’s up to you and I to go explore these places, learn of their secrets, and share those stories with the rest of the world, it is only then can we protect the future of our National Parks!
That’s right, their future lies in YOUR hands!!!
Comments
Post a Comment