National Parks Preserve Ecosystem Services

This week, I’m devoting each evening to watching Ken Burns’s documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” There’s fascinating history regarding the push and pull of a growing nation, and the setting aside of vast tracks of natural resources. The parks began at a time when the nation began to realize the value of natural systems, and the horror of past transgressions against the land and wildlife.

This television series places an emphasis on the parks at a time when their visitor numbers have been dwindling. It has also provided a focal point for discussions and studies on how they can best be managed. A report was released last week from the independent National Parks Second Century Commission that outlines recommendations that speak to our expanding understanding of natural ecosystem services, and the importance of stewardship of our entire planet.

Among the report’s recommendations are:

Create new national parks, collaborative models, and corridors of conservation and stewardship that foster ecosystem and cultural connectivity.
Strengthen the park protection authorities and broader cooperative management of large land systems and seascapes
Empower a new-century National Park Service to invigorate its capacity for scientific, historic and cultural research
Ensure sustainable funding mechanisms by creating an endowment and increasing appropriations

The centennial of our national parks in 2016 is coming at a time when we realize the fragility of our natural systems, and their interconnectedness. The growing peril of climate change has been very visible in our preserved places, where warming has helped along devastating insect infestations in the Smoky Mountains, have receded glaciers in Glacier National Park, where air pollution has hampered views from some of our most special peaks, and where invasive species have infested more than 2.6 million acres.

It’s a fitting time for reflection on the history and majesty of these parks that have preserved an understanding of what our nation once looked like. We all should view this impressive television series and reflect upon what our ancestors have given us, thinking how we might be able to pass along such awe-inspiring places for perpetuity.