World War II: Defending Park Values and Resources

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-33
Author(s):  
JANET A. McDONNELL

Abstract This article focuses on the way in which the National Park Service (NPS) resisted demands for the consumptive use of park resources during World War II primarily through the use of carefully crafted arguments and powerful rhetoric, but also by enlisting the support of conservation groups and adopting compromise measures. These compromise measures allowed the military to use the parks for recreation, rehabilitation, training, and maneuvers, and in a few instances authorize some exploitive use of parks by timber, mining, and farming interests when necessary. Faced with wartime demands, the NPS was forced to articulate its purpose and mission as never before. As NPS leaders articulated their arguments, they developed and publicized several major themes: that park values were a valuable resource; that the NPS had a trust responsibility to protect the parks; and that the parks represented the restorative and inspirational power of nature. Its vigorous campaign in defense of park values and resources, along with the willingness to compromise, played an important role in ensuring the preservation of irreplaceable park resources.

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
Martin Blatt

Abstract These four essays critique Ken Burns's PBS documentary series The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Burns has over the last several decades established himself as the central producer of PBS multi-part documentaries, addressing such topics as the Civil War, baseball, jazz, and World War II. National Park Service (NPS) leadership recognized the promotional opportunities for the NPS and aligned themselves closely with Burns and PBS. Critical discussion in the essays focuses in three areas: the treatment of Native Americans; the reverential treatment of “nature” in the national parks, and the distorted focus on the natural park in the West as the embodiment of the National Park system.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK HAYS

Manzanar National Historic Site was established to protect and interpret the resources associated with the internment of Japanese Americans at one often War Relocation Centers during World War II. One of the many challenges facing the National Park Service (NPS) at Manzanar is determining how to tell the story of the internment. Opinions about the role of the NPS in managing and interpreting the site range from suggestions that the NPS needs to serve as the social conscience of the nation to cautions that the NPS not become a ““groveling sycophant”” to the Japanese American community. To address this issue, the park sought diverse forums to engage the public in the management of the site. This paper details how public engagement has affected a number of management decisions.


Antiquity ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (289) ◽  
pp. 513-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Anderson ◽  
R. Steven Kidd ◽  
Emily M. Yates

In 1998 extensive investigations were undertaken on Water Island, US Virgin Islands, by a research team from the Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service. The US government is relinquishing ownership of the island, an action that would affect cultural resources. Earlier surveys had located a number of sites, including the remains of three 18th- and l9th-century plantations, historic wells, prehistoric shell middens and an extensive World War II fortification complex (Wild & Anderson 1992; Knight 2001; Anderson et al. in preparation).Water Island, located off St Thomas, encompasses about one square mile, and is characterized by steep rocky slopes, a pronounced central ridgeline and a highly indented coastline with numerous bays and beaches (FIGURE 1). Fresh water comes from rainfall, and in small brackish ponds. Vegetation ranges from dry tropical thorn scrub to mangrove/salt ponds.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Vaughn ◽  
Hanna J. Cortner

Cinema’s Military Industrial Complex examines how the American military has used cinema and related visual, sonic, and mobile technologies to further its varied aims. The essays in this book address the way cinema was put to work for purposes of training, orientation, record keeping, internal and external communication, propaganda, research and development, tactical analysis, surveillance, physical and mental health, recreation, and morale. The contributors examine the technologies and types of films that were produced and used in collaboration among the military, film industry, and technology manufacturers. The essays also explore the goals of the American state, which deployed the military and its unique modes of filmmaking, film exhibition, and film viewing to various ends. Together, the essays reveal the military’s deep investment in cinema, which began around World War I, expanded during World War II, continued during the Cold War (including wars in Korea and Vietnam), and still continues in the ongoing War on Terror.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Michael A. Capps

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is an example of one memorial site that has successfully managed to retain relevance for nearly one hundred years by adapting to changes in scholarship and the expectations of its visitors. Initially created as a purely commemorative site, it has evolved into one where visitors can actively engage with the Lincoln story. By embracing an interpretive approach to managing the site, the National Park Service has been able to add an educational component to the experience of visiting the memorial that complements its commemorative nature.


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