A New Generation of Champions Needed as National Parks Service Turns 100

By Becky Shipley and Marjorie Thomas

Visitors this year at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Cobb County – as they are all across the country – commemorated a magnificent milestone: The 100th birthday of the National Park Service.

Kennesaw Mountain marked the celebration through a signature event on Aug. 20 with “Movie Night at the Mountain,” highlighted by an excerpted showing of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” an acclaimed documentary by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan.

But more advocates and stewards are needed to preserve these special places of Americana, if the park system is to succeed in its second centennial (the NPS turned 100 Aug. 25, the date in 1916 that president Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the agency).

Today, many urban youth populations already see the parks as irrelevant. Without new advocates, that eroding sentiment could lead to an uncertain parks future.

A “new generation of park champions,” as Duncan called them in a New York Times op-ed, are needed to preserve the legacy of these national grounds and to call out to today’s generation that it has inherited a mighty obligation to nurture what writer Wallace Stegner called ‘the best idea we ever had.”

“In the end,” said forestry engineer and renowned environmentalist Baba Dioum, “we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

YMCA partnership achieves mutual benefit

That’s why “Movie Night” succeeded as a partnership among the park system and the three Cobb County branches of the YMCA. The collaboration teaches social responsibility and cultivates mutual benefit - a partnership that can be repeated by multiple organizations throughout Cobb County.

LISTEN to YMCA, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park describe the power of partnership on Y Radio/Cobb On The Air.

Assembled under the Y’s “Togetherhood” program – which invites Y members to lead and participate in volunteer service projects that benefit their communities – “Movie Night” expanded the reach of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park by teaching the historical relevance of the park and highlighting its connection to the community.

Walking on the hallowed ground – among earthworks constructed in 1864 as part of the Battle of Kennesaw during the pivotal Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War – creates a living history lesson. You can’t help but to gain a respect for the past and an earnest appreciation for the virtue of peacefully working through conflict.

Volunteers give back, future leaders emerge

This appreciation opens the door to increased volunteerism, for the parks and other projects. It incubates passion and leadership skills for Millennial generations, who gain broader context for contemporary issues.

Long-term gain, sustained gratitude and human empathy may elude young adults in an Instagram society superficially based on “likes,” achievements and wants.

Research shows that teens engaged in community service are more responsible with higher self-esteem and resilience, better school performance and a bigger view of the world around them.

“Movie Night” in the short term is about youth development, summer entertainment and family fellowship. In the long term, the YMCA partnership imparts a durable understanding of the parks and the human condition, the kind that nurtures the leadership and advocacy required to make communities what we all want them to be.

As Duncan suggested, national parks are no longer just scenic landscapes. They represent what it is to be an American.

To that end, find your park and its partners and volunteer. Learn and honor your local history. Strengthen our community – and our nation.

Becky Shipley is executive director of the McCleskey-East Cobb and Northeast Cobb Family YMCAs. Marjorie Thomas is the Chief of Interpretation at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. Contact them about volunteer and partnership opportunities.