JULY 2008 EDITION, VOLUME 6, ISSUE 7

Remembering George B. Hartzog
The national parks and the National Park Foundation have lost a lifelong friend. George B. Hartzog, seventh director of the National Park Service (1964–1972) passed away on June 27, leaving behind an inspiring legacy of service and leadership.

As director, George Hartzog made many important and lasting contributions to the National Park System. For example, among other achievements, he worked to expand the park system to save important areas before they were lost, to make the system relevant to an urban society, and to open up employment opportunities to new audiences, especially minorities and women.

Under Hartzog's leadership, the National Park Service added 69 areas to the national park system. In 1968, he appointed Grant Wright to oversee the U.S. Park Police, the first black man to head a major police force in the U.S., and selected several women to be park superintendents, including Lorraine Mintzmyer at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

The first major urban recreation areas, Gateway (New York City) and Golden Gate (San Francisco) national recreation areas were acquired under Hartzog's directorship. The Summer in the Parks urban program was started at Richmond National Battlefield Park and in Washington, D.C., and living history interpretation was advanced.

Hartzog gained the cooperation of members of Congress and was instrumental in getting congressional approval for the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, allowing 80 million acres of Alaska wildlands to be set aside for new national parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness.

Stewart L. Udall, who was Secretary of the Interior during Hartzog's tenure, once said, "A consummate negotiator, [Hartzog] enjoyed entering political thickets; he had the self-confidence and savvy to be his own lobbyist and to win most of the arguments with members of Congress, governors and presidents."

Hartzog was a true believer in the idea that our parks belong to the citizens and that each of us has a duty to do everything we can to protect and preserve our heritage for the future. Each year the National Park Foundation presents exceptional park volunteers with awards named in honor of Hartzog, who initiated the Volunteer-In-Parks program. The awards honor volunteers who give of their skills, talents and time beyond the call of duty.

In May 2008, the National Park Foundation, National Park Service and Take Pride in America^® presented the sixth annual George B. Hartzog Jr. Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service to Dr. Jennifer Dow; the Flight 93 Volunteer Ambassadors; and the Mount Rainier National Park Volunteer Program.

Enter the Share the Experience Photo Contest
Calling all shutterbugs! July marks the official launch of the 2008 Share the Experience Photo Contest. Enter for a chance to have your photo grace the cover of the 2010 Federal Recreation Lands Pass used by more than 500,000 park and recreation lands visitors. Other great prizes include trips to a federal recreation land, gift cards to an outdoor apparel/gear retailer and more!

Sponsored by the National Park Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, the Share the Experience Photo Contest showcases the more than 500 million acres of federal lands and draws entries from all across the U.S.

The 2008 Share the Experience Photo Contest runs from July 23, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. To review official contest rules and view an online gallery of photos, visit www.sharetheexperience.org. There you will have an opportunity to enter your favorite photos, view other entries, vote on the top photos and get a firsthand look at the beauty and diversity of America.

First Bloom Launches First Citywide Program in Boston
Storm clouds rolled across the churning waters of Charlestown Harbor but that didnt stop the more than 100 children gathered from Warren Prescott Elementary, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and the National Park Foundation Honorary Chair Mrs. Laura Bush from kicking off the first citywide First Bloom program in Boston with style. Before the rain fell, the children filled the grounds of the Commandant's House with a First Bloom jamboree, where they made rope from natural plant fibers, built composting bins (complete with 5,000 worms) to learn about soil and planted native echinacea plants in the ornamental gardens outside the Commandant's House. The students will begin their work with First Bloom in earnest when, working together, they design a new native plant garden—dubbed the "secret garden"—as a special public place for the children and families of Charlestown.

First Bloom provides children who may have limited access to the outdoors with the opportunity to get their hands in the dirt and experience planting and gardening for the first time in their neighborhoods and our national parks. Boston is the sixth city to participate in the program and the first program to connect multiple national parks and multiple neighborhoods in a joint conservation effort.

Click here to learn more about the First Bloom program and find upcoming events.

Did You Know? In 1967, Lady Bird Johnson designated the Billings Mansion, located in what would later be called Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, as a National Historic Site. In June 1998, with the opening of the park, Mrs. Johnson returned to Woodstock to rededicate the house with a plaque honoring all three generations of conservationists who have lived on the site.