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Emphasizing the Urban Angle of National Parks

Posted by: Nate Berg

13 July 2009 - 7:00am

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has said he wants to bring park programs back into the lives of urban dwellers. This piece argues that a good place for him to start is one of the few urban national parks at St. Louis' Gateway Arch.

The Secretary reportedly wants to expand the idea of National Parks beyond Yellowstone and Yosemite and get more urban dwellers to access the facilities their metro areas have.

"He has said he wants to engage more children and encourage underrepresented groups to participate in parks programs. Metropolitan areas are fertile grounds for such initiatives. They are where 80 percent of America’s people live.

Urban centers largely have been second-class citizens throughout the celebrated history of the National Park System. St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, and the national park in which it is situated, stands out as an exception — a soaring symbol of a great historical movement and cherished element of the American character."

Full Story: Championing urban national parks
Source: STL Today, July 10, 2009
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Urban National Parks

Submitted by Ken Firestone on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 06:05.

He can start right in Washington, D.C. were most of the parks are National Parks.

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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.
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