Getting in the Arena

I’m starting a blog, y’all. I am getting into the blogging arena as a cyber savvy Teddy Roosevelt would say. I’m not going to give in to over-thinking it as I’m prone to do. I’m just doing it.

This quote was one of my dad's favorites and hung in his office. C.W. had no problem jumping into the arena. But me, not so much.

This quote was one of my dad’s favorites and hung in his office. C.W. had no problem jumping into the arena. But me, not so much.

So what does an ordinary average person like myself have to say and blog about? I’m in that mid stage of life that entails raising two busy teenage children with my very great hubby Russ, maintaining a household, folding clothes, making lunches, chauffeuring, dealing with my life as a new “orphaned” adult, folding more clothes, trying to cook nutritious tasty meals and volunteering for various projects. But one project as the conservation chair and national affairs representative for my garden club really struck a chord – and I have unearthed a passion for conservation, our environment and especially our National Parks. I am a new board member for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) ~ a private, non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization for our National Parks founded in 1919.  I get to attend meetings in some amazing places and learn about our invaluable inheritance we all have as Americans…and I want to share it with you. As my friend Heather has said, “the older you get, the more like yourself you become”. I think our inner voice just gets louder and you have to let it out and share what’s good. So read it or not. Here goes friends…..

As I was traveling recently, I was asked, “so Elizabeth, what is your area of expertise?” I sort of laughed under my breath and responded, “that’s a really good question.” Reflecting on this exchange, I realized that I’ve started to find my area of expertise and it’s using my voice, my plain average ordinary voice to educate and advocate about what I find important in this life.

So my ordinary self gets to learn and experience this promised inheritance we all have in this great country and I want to share my journey of learning with you and convey why conserving and enhancing our National Parks, public lands and natural spaces is important and why we should care…..And in the process, maybe you will use your ordinary voice to advocate for what you think is important.   SO…. come along with me and discover or re-discover our national monuments, preserves, grand national parks across the country or right here in our own Texas back yard. Let’s celebrate, protect and preserve them for us and for future generations.

To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.

― Theodore Roosevelt

So you just read an inspiring quote…..now watch this inspiring short video. Yes, right now. Don’t scroll down just yet; you will miss something worth seeing. It’ll be your feel good moment for the day:

http://vimeo.com/64744978

I don’t know of anything so unifying as our National Parks. They are celebrated and loved by Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and folks of all income levels and backgrounds. They tell our story as Americans, act as economic engines for our communities, creating jobs and supporting families in cities and towns across the country, and they connect us to some majestic open spaces where we can go to find inspiration and peace and sanity in our hurried lives.

We hear everyday what is wrong with our country ~ especially from politicians trying to get elected or conform to a certain ideology. But let’s focus on and celebrate what is so right about this great country and the forethought it took to establish a National Park System almost 100 years ago for us today and our future generations.

If you’re still with me take a look at my photos from recent meetings this summer and fall:

The Great Smoky Mountains 

Hiking through the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Black Balsam Area of the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina where treeless stretches at 5000-6000 elevation allow for miles of paramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Hiking through the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Black Balsam Area of the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina where treeless stretches at 5000-6000 elevation allow for miles of panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is many things. It is the longest road planned as a single unit in the United States. It is an elongated park, protecting significant mountain landscapes far beyond the shoulders of the road itself. It is a series of parks providing the visitor access to high mountain passes, a continuous series of panoramic views, the boundaries of its limited right-of-way rarely apparent and miles of the adjacent countryside seemingly a part of the protected scene. It is a “museum of the managed American countryside,” preserving the roughhewn log cabin of the mountain pioneer, the summer home of a textile magnate, and traces of early industries such as logging, railways, and an old canal. It is the product of a series of major public works projects which provided a boost to the travel and tourism industry and helped the Appalachian region climb out the depths of the Great Depression. Stretching almost 500 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains through North Carolina and Virginia, it encompasses some of the oldest settlements of both pre-historic and early European settlement. The Blue Ridge Parkway is all these things and more. (Source: NPS.gov)

This is Thomas with author Jay Leutze who wrote an incredible true story of people using their ordinary voices to save their community near the Appalachian Trail.

This is Thomas with author Jay Leutze who wrote an incredible true story of people using their ordinary voices to save their community near the Appalachian Trail.

And here's the book. You can order on Amazon.

And here’s the book. You can order on Amazon.

Breathtaking Glacier National Park in Montana

Russ feeling small in Glacier National Park this September

Russ feeling small in Glacier National Park this September

Throughout time, people have sought out Glacier National Park’s rugged peaks, clear waters, and glacial-carved valleys; its landscape giving both desired resources and inspiration to those persistent enough to venture through it. 

The park encompasses over 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges, over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem”, a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.  Glacier NP borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada—the two parks are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and were designated as the world’s first International Peace Park in 1932. (Source: NPCA.com and Wikipedia)

The glaciers have significantly diminished over the last century.  Click on the link below for a visual.

http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/repeatphoto/

Some of my new friends on our group hike on The Big Mountain Summit Hike with transboundary views of Glacier National Park, and the Canadian Rockies. I was trying real hard not to be a wimp!

Some of my new friends on our group hike on The Big Mountain Summit Hike with transboundary views of Glacier National Park, and the Canadian Rockies. I was trying real hard not to be a wimp!

And look what was waiting for us at the top…

DSC_4244

One evening we heard a discussion and presentation on a beautiful new large format photography book called The Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies. One of the co-authors and NPCA Crown of the Continent Program Manager Michael Jamison joined us on the hike shown above.

Take a look at this short video about the book and order a copy if you wish:

A Quote that really says it all in the book:

Guard, protect, and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out as Heaven.

– C.M. Russell

America’s Best Idea ~ A bit of history

In a nutshell…..

The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all U.S. national parks, many American national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. The NPS was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act. Not to be confused with the Antiquities Act of 1906 signed by Theodore Roosevelt which gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclamation, restrict the use of particular public land owned by the federal government. The Organic Act has been used over a hundred times since its passage and is an important conservation tool.

Our National Park Service is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. Most of the direct management of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, to the National Park Service Director, John Jarvis, who must be confirmed by the Senate.

The 21,989 employees of the NPS oversee 401 units. Here’s a breakdown of all the National Park Service units and the ones we have here in Texas:

In addition, there are also park units around found outside of Texas in the U.S. that include a National Historic Site, National Battlefields, Military Parks, a National Battlefield, National Lakeshores, National Rivers, National reserves and National Parkways.

Total in Texas – 14 and growing

Exciting developments in Texas: 

A possible new park designation for a Waco Mammoth National Monument:

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/city_of_waco/white-house-to-hear-waco-mammoth-site-proposal-this-fall/article_4ec2aaa2-dbd7-55cd-9bf6-4cc21ed6347d.html​

And here is a recent article about the Proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area:
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/Coastal-recreation-area-edges-closer-to-reality-5706861.php?cmpid=email-premium&t=52917f40516949123c

So this blogging stage has been set for future subjects regarding our parks.  If you’re free this Saturday, October 11, The Big Thicket is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the preserve and the 50th anniversary of the Big Thicket Association with speakers (one being world renowned photographer Keith Carter), dancers, crafts, and all sorts of celebratory fun at the visitor’s center.   I’ll be manning the NPCA table so come by and get a prize.

If you have made it to the end of this post you are a true friend and I hope you learned something.  I sure did writing it!