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Winter 2005 |
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Message from the Director
Illegal Marijuana Cultivation Receives Congressional Attention
Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree
Channel Islands Still Open to All
NPCA Board Chair Testifies Before Congress
Gateway Communities Come Together for Parks
Great Escapes: Death Valley National Park
Message from the Director
Greetings! Since becoming the new Pacific Region Director for NPCA in November, I have considered this appointment a high honor. In my view, protecting our National Parks is one of greatest responsibilities one could have.
As a child, growing up in Western Maryland, I gained a strong appreciation for the national parks, spending many hours in Shenandoah National Park with my parents, siblings, grandparents, and my great grandmother. These were big family affairs, with a caravan of vehicles driving down Shenandoah’s Skyline Drive, where we would take in the spectacular fall colors and hike to beautiful waterfalls. Among the numerous family treks were also visits to Gettysburg, Antietam, and other national monuments throughout the east.
As a teenager, I ventured to California to experience some of the Western parksI was awestruck by the beauty of Yosemite and marveled at the trees in Muir Woods. Now, some 30 years later, I have the responsibility of helping to protect these and other National Park icons, and you can be sure that’s exactly what I will do.
As you will read in this issue, NPCA has played a central role in publicizing the epidemic of illegal marijuana cultivation in California’s national parks, and advocating for sufficient funding for law enforcement in the backcountry to curtail these drug cartel operations. While some Congressional members, such as Rep. Radanovich, have stepped up to the plate to protect our parks and ensure visitor safety, other members have assaulted the parks with a variety of ill-conceived proposals in recent months. Thanks to your voice, these proposals---which included selling national parks units to the highest bidder, opening parks to mining and transferring park land for private uses--have all been defeated.
While we continue to keep an eye on current threats to parks, we also look forward to March, when the Kelso Depot Railway is dedicated at a special ceremony—in no time, park visitors will be able to ride the rails between Barstow and Kelso to experience Mojave in a truly unique way. . Exciting times are in store for us this year, and with new opportunities come new challenges. I look forward to working with you to ensure “America’s best idea” stays protected for present and future generations.
