Saving our Parks
Stuff to Read, Actions to Take
I’m sure we all have Trump whiplash.
It’s so fucking stupid and exhausting. I hate that this buffoon is back in our lives and we actually have to care about what he says and does because it affects everyone and everything on the planet.
But his acts of destruction on literally everything means that it can be hard to keep up with or even know what’s happening to issues you care about that aren’t “betraying Ukraine and wanting to annex Greenland” level crazy.
One of those issues for me is our National Parks — one of the greatest things America ever did for her citizens — now threatened by the insane whims of the Biggest Asshole on Earth.
Most of us have a relationship with our National Parks.
Treasured memories with family and friends — or a special moment in nature made possible because these magnificent areas are preserved and well cared for.
The Man and I spend our summer vacations at Cape Hatteras National Seashore — a blissful area of rural barrier islands full of birds, beautiful beaches, and Americana.
In the morning, we watch dolphins play in the ocean while we watch the sunrise.
At night, we listen to the waves as Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — also cared for by the National Park Service1 — sweeps its light out to sea to guide ships through the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
It’s magical. And this pristine beauty is possible because the island has been saved from massive development because it is part of the park system.
What is your special relationship with our National Parks?
The park service also operates in our cities — particularly Washington, DC.
The entire National Mall is overseen by the Park Service and Park Police. They also patrol scenic highways like the George Washington Parkway and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We even have a five acre Park Service enclave in my neighborhood — Richmond Battlefield Park — where we saw a free reenactment of Benedict Arnold’s Attack on Richmond during the Revolutionary War2.
Our National Parks are beloved by most citizens. We have to fight for them — or the Trump administration will destroy them for monetary gain.
Do you think our National Forests will be safe once the Canadian lumber tariffs kick in?
I don’t, either.
You may not know that public parks are a fairly recent development — a response to the crowding and urban filth of the Industrial Revolution.
Richmond’s park system didn’t exist until 1851.
Prior to the 1800’s, the term “park” held a connotation of wealth — think Rosings Park, Lady Catherine DeBourgh’s estate in Pride and Prejudice.
In the English-speaking world, parks began as hunting grounds for aristocrats, and evolved into natural landscapes designed around manor houses.
But the dramatic changes and rapid urbanization brought by the Industrial Revolution created a demand for “breathing spaces for clean air” that all people could enjoy.
Believe it or not, this demand was first met by rural garden cemeteries — the first green spaces commoners and working people were welcome to enjoy.
Often built outside the city, these cemeteries celebrated the natural world and are still popular with visitors today.
By the end of the 19th century, they fell out of “cemetery fashion” due to the cost of maintaining them — coinciding with the rise of public park systems — green spaces for everyone.
By the mid 19th century, western expansion and the destruction of America’s natural beauty and native species was driving a conservation movement.
Leaders like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt wanted to preserve America’s unique and majestic landscapes for future generations to enjoy — the sentiment that when you bring your grandchildren to the place you visited as a child, it will be there. And it will be there for their grandchildren, too.
Ken Burns has a fabulous documentary on the history of our National Parks, natch.
So what can you do to help save our parks? Especially when the corporate media isn’t covering at all?
You can call your Congressional representatives and demand that they stop the wholesale destruction of one of the greatest things we’ve done as a country for the enjoyment of all the people.
You can stay informed about what’s happening in the National Park Service — and attend protests organized around saving our park system.
Here are some Substacks to follow that are dedicated to our Parks:
You can also follow on BlueSky:
Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social
That’s it for today, readers. Just remember that we are all in this together, and that this too shall pass. Let’s do everything we can to save our parks before his catastrophic implosion — or the Hamburger from Heaven.
I’ll close with one of my favorite images from Cape Hatteras National Seashore:
Because you literally have to drive down a highway surrounded by sand dunes to get there.
It def sets the mood.
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And being restored thanks to President Biden’s Infrastructure Act.
During the last halcyon days of the Biden Presidency.
Enjoyed this essay and the history of the National Parks you highlighted. Cape Hatteras is great, along with Acadia and Redwood National Park. East Coast people should walk among the Redwoods at least once.