NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

On the Homefront

After the terrorist attacks, the National Park Service worked harder than ever to protect American icons, as well as the people who love them.

BY TODD WILKINSON

   In its 86-year history, the National Park Service (NPS) has borrowed many ideas from the U.S. military: The classic, 19th-century soldier uniform originated with the cavalry's occupation of Yellowstone in the 1870s; the concept of mounted rangers was modeled after the infantry; and, of course, the agency maintains a grand tradition of esprit de corps.

   But aside from battling occasional armed poachers, artifact looters, and drug smugglers, the Park Service has rarely had to worry about war threatening the safety of its visitors or the integrity of cultural treasures under its command.

   Things today, of course, are radically different. On September 11, 2001, by destroying and damaging such iconic structures as the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, terrorists provided a jarring wake-up call to the new millennium. The attacks at once reaffirmed the profile of parks as venerated American symbols of freedom and exposed them as potential targets. Whether it is the president's residence (which, unknown to many citizens, is a unit of the park system), the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, or the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, such landmarks give us a sense of who we are. And unfortunately, that fact is not lost on those who lurk in the shadows of terrorism. The attacks not only changed us as a nation, but also deeply affected NPS and the sites under its care.

   Immediately after the attacks, all national parks were closed briefly, as the nation became quickly aware of their vulnerability. Yet close to ground zero, the National Park Service sought to help others before it helped itself. In New York City, all 450 Park Service employees at the 21 national park sites of New York Harbor stepped forward. Federal Hall National Memorial, located on Wall Street in the financial district, became a disaster shelter, providing refuge to hundreds of pedestrians fleeing the rubble of the Trade Center. Personnel from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island helped evacuate victims by boat across the water to emergency medical crews arriving from New Jersey. Rangers were dispatched to Gateway National Recreation Area to help with crowds that had formed along the shoreline to view the altered skyline. Rangers and park police officers routinely worked 12-hour shifts.

   "The National Park Service contribution does underscore how national parks, located in dense urban areas, are an integral part of the community," said Park Service Director Fran Mainella.

   "It also underscores the value of parks as places of healing and introspection and of the high value of large federal open spaces."

   But that high value may also come with some risk. If the terrorists can strike at icons of Western society, a mountain with the faces of U.S. presidents may be a prime target.

   "I would say our security is as good as it gets right now, but we cannot let our guard down today, nor wait five years and declare that the threat has passed," says Jim Popovich, chief of interpretation at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. "What's sad is that terrorism has invaded our psyche. It's something that we can never not think about again."

   Steps have already been taken to protect the parks. "We are using everything at our disposal to make our sites secure," says Elaine Sevy, a senior spokeswoman for the Park Service in Washington, D.C. This involves increased police presence and the installation of physical barriers, but also more subtle measures, such as hidden surveillance cameras, sensors, metal detectors, and armed personnel at high-risk locations, Sevy says. Rangers working with the new Homeland Security Office will have training in such areas as biochemical response. Already the Park Service has responded to numerous incidents involving powdery substances feared to be anthrax, although none has proven positive.

   "In Washington, we have overtly increased our security presence to make the visiting public feel more secure, but it's a fine line we walk," Sevy says. "We don't want to make people feel like they are entering into a police state, and yet we must address areas where we've been vulnerable given the new reality."

   At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, for example, metal bollards gird the building where the Declaration of Independence was signed. "If you work for the Park Service, your awareness of terrorism is heightened," says spokesman Phil Sheridan.

   The agency has been assessing its vulnerability for years. In 1999, Mount Rushmore completed a $60 million renovation that included a significant security upgrade with devices to detect trespassers.

   "For years, there was an assumption that because Mount Rushmore was in South Dakota in the middle of the country . . . we were insulated from those kinds of threats," says Superintendent Dan Wenk. "We realize we had a false sense of security."

   Such awareness grew even sharper after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Today, the Oklahoma City National Memorial not only commemorates the victims of terrorism but also seeks to prevent such incidents from happening. Behind the solemn silhouettes of 168 chairs, one for each bombing victim, The Institute on the Prevention of Terrorism is dedicated to the study of civil unrest in a complicated world.

   "Scholars throughout the world will be able to conduct internationally significant research in this library," says former superintendent Pat McCrary. "We couldn't stop violence here, but we hope this hallowed ground will be a catalyst for stopping it elsewhere."

   Three years ago, a panel commissioned by the Pentagon released a report that focused on growing threats of domestic terrorism. The coming decades, the panel predicted, would be marked by strategic attacks on civilians not only where they live and work, but also where they play and relax. "Americans will become increasingly vulnerable to hostile attack on our homeland, and our military superiority will not entirely protect us," the report stated. Such vulnerability was underscored by Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB defector and an author of The Sword and The Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, who revealed Soviet plans to blow up two hydroelectric dams in Montana to knock out power supplies in the West. (Mitrokhin wrote the book with Christopher Andrew.)

   Although implementing anti-terrorist devices on federal lands is clearly necessary, they are neither convenient nor cheap, especially for an agency that is already struggling to address all the parks' funding needs. Even before the attacks, the agency was reeling from rising maintenance costs, thinly stretched visitor services and education programs, and limited money for scientific research. With more resources devoted to homeland security, conservationists worry about further budget cuts in land management agencies.

   Consider, for example, the new security gauntlet imposed upon the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Mall includes the Washington Monument and the Lincoln and Vietnam Veterans memorials. A new report prepared by the Interagency Task Force of the National Capital Planning Commission calls for an environmentally friendly armor of steel, concrete, and aesthetically pleasing landscape barriers to encircle portions of the National Mall. Immediately after the attack, the Washington Monument was hastily buffered by concrete Jersey barriers, and other sites installed trailer checkpoints, prompting the commission to conclude: "The national capital reflects the spirit of America, but today in Washington we look like a nation in fear."

   The projected cost to carry out the commission's initial recommendations, which include new security and transportation features, is estimated at $100 million, though some experts believe that, by completion, it could easily be ten times greater. Adding to the agency's financial dilemma is the fact that tourism remains down in the wake of the attacks.

   Although visitation to many national parks dropped off severely after September 11, strong evidence exists that the national parks have also served as places of solace to a nation consumed with grief and anxiety. For many tourists, driving to the closest national park has been preferable to flying.

   According to the Associated Press (AP), after the attacks, Yellowstone National Park, the Appalachian Trail, and some state and local parks were experiencing high visitation.

   A park is the best place to seek solace, Steve Anastasia, a ranger at Point Reyes National Seashore in California, told the AP. "It's a nice place to get yourself grounded with all the crazy stuff going on. It's a great place for reflection."

   On Veterans Day weekend last fall, Interior Secretary Gale Norton opened all national parks to the public free of charge. Millions of citizens explored their favorite urban lawns, cultural centers, and backcountry trails in an expression of unity. NPCA President Thomas Kiernan praised Norton's gesture and the American response in embracing parks as sanctuaries in a time of national crisis.

   At Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, Park Service rangers sent citizens' sentiments over the Internet as inspiration.

   "Just a single afternoon at Golden Gate allowed families to escape the distress and tragedies of war unfolding around them, and that scenario was being repeated hundreds and thousands of times over," says Elaine Sevy. "Parks provide a peaceful experience in a good world that's been interrupted."

TODD WILKINSON lives in Bozeman, Montana, and is a regular contributor to National Parks.