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del.icio.usThe Next 100 Years
To celebrate nearly a century of America’s public parklands, the National Park Foundation convened hundreds of thought leaders to prepare for challenges in the years ahead.
Old Faithful, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and the sites of the Underground Railroad. Give yourself five minutes and dozens more places central to our national story spring to mind. For more than a century, these touchstones of our American heritage have been prized and protected through the efforts of private citizens working with the government. Last year this collaboration took a historic step. More than 400 people came together in a groundbreaking meeting to envision ways that parks could thrive in the face of 21st-century challenges.
Hank Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, speaks with Andrew Serwer, Managing Editor of Fortune Magazine
The National Park Foundation’s inaugural Leadership Summit on Partnership and Philanthropy brought together Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, the National Geographic Society, representatives from The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Heinz Endowments, as well as park rangers, philanthropists, academics, elected officials and business leaders. They shared insights and ideas on how to inspire Americans to visit their parks and how to initiate the public/private partnerships that will ensure a secure future.
“This was a meeting of top minds, dedicated to inspiring breakthrough collaborations and bold thinking,” says NPF president and CEO Vin Cipolla.
Summit attendees tackled the big questions: How will our national parks serve our urban population? How do we get our children outdoors and engaged in park stewardship? What role can corporations and foundations play in the future and what are the most effective new funding models? How can our parks become leaders in conservation, locally and globally? How will our parks embrace and reflect the nation’s diversity?
The speeches and roundtables explored three themes: vision, leadership and innovation. But diversity also became a frequent topic of discussion as participants sought ways to inspire an engagement with urban parks. “We’re looking at more and better ways to get urban youth into the parks for hands-on experiences,” said Cipolla, adding that natural partnerships should be developed with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Robert Stanton, former National Park Service director and now a trustee of the African-American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation and a senior fellow at Texas A&M University, stressed that diversity has long been a parks trademark. “There is a biodiversity of great natural systems that are being preserved and there is also the nation’s cultural diversity, which celebrates groups such as Native Americans, Native Alaskans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans.”
A naturalized citizen herself, National Park Service director Mary Bomar stressed the parks’ significance for students and foreign tourists. “The living mementos of U.S. history in our national parks makes them the largest university in America,” Bomar said. Keynote speaker General Tommy Franks spoke to a rapt audience about the historical importance of preserving war memorials and other sites. “We celebrate love of country; not wars, but what they represent to our culture and to each of us,” he said.
Creative Partnerships
Superintendent Joanne Hanley shares the Flight 93 National Memorial Designs with John Faraci, Chairman and CEO of International Paper and NPF Director
The sessions were filled with a buzz of innovative brainstorming and frank exchanges. Participants used case studies on new or proposed parks sites—including the Pennsylvania crash site of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001 and the African Burial Ground in New York City—to examine how national partnerships can enhance the profile of projects, spurring private and public philanthropic efforts on the local level. State and local officials discussed initiatives that could give national partners tips for finding new revenue streams.
There were many examples of successful partnerships between public and private sectors. Warrie Price, the founder and president of The Battery Conservancy in New York City, described how combined efforts at the city, state and federal levels—along with private donations—helped revitalize Battery City and Castle Clinton National Monument at the southern tip of Manhattan.
I think I know something about investments, and there’s no better investment than our national parks. —HANK PAULSON, Secretary of the Treasury
Business leaders also shared examples of how they successfully balance corporate and social responsibilities. International Paper chairman and CEO John Faraci shared that over the past 25 years, International Paper has donated, protected or preserved more than 1.5 million acres of land. The company worked in collaboration with environmental groups and the public to manage the impact on streams, wetlands and wildlife while—just as importantly—honoring the wishes of environmentally aware employees.
Laurance Rockefeller is widely recognized for his commitment to park preservation, including his donation of $1 million in 1967 to endow the National Park Foundation. More than 40 years later, his nephew, foundation vice chairman emeritus David Rockefeller Jr., continues the family’s pioneering legacy of private giving to the parks. Rockefeller spoke on behalf of all families whose largesse has paid dividends to Americans who appreciate parks. The future, he says, lies in engaging donors at all levels: “Those huge gifts of $100 million and the gifts of $1.”
In 2016 the National Park Service will celebrate one hundred years of preserving the nation’s greatest treasures. In fall 2009 acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will trace the development of the national park system in his six-part, 12-hour series (partially funded by the NPF), The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, on PBS. That kind of attention can only help the broad, national thinking about parks stewardship, environmental leadership and education fostered at the summit.
Looking to the future, the conversations from the Leadership Summit on Partnership and Philanthropy will continue at the Wildlands Philanthropy Forum, hosted by the National Park Foundation and the Foundation for Deep Ecology on Oct. 21, 2008. This event will be held outside San Francisco at historic Fort Baker and its eco-friendly conference center, Cavallo Point. The Wildlands Philanthropy Forum will explore transformative strategies and new directions for supporting parks and wilderness worldwide in the next century.
As steady progress continues, the NPF’s Cipolla is confident that the energy and vision of summit attendees will inspire the next generations of parks supporters.
“We want to accelerate the thinking in the field to put the spotlight on these issues,” he says. “And make a difference now.”
