Place

In class, we have been discussing the creation of the park system and current park designations. For example, most of Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park are designated Wilderness. We also have been discussing the concept of preservation and expanding park boundaries. One of the girls in my class mentioned that the going statistic is that 90% of people that visit the national parks never get out of their car.

The argument that has been brought up is "How can you convince the public to save a place if they will never see what needs to be saved."

So, in order to either bore you to death, or provoke something in your heart, I've attached a thought piece I had written. enjoy.

Home

Home: A place of residence or refuge of comfort. It is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and be able to store personal property. As an alternative to the definition of “home” as a physical locale, home may be perceived to have no physical definition – instead, home may relate to a mental or emotional state or refuge of comfort.

Everyone views “home” as a unique place that inspires comfort, joy or tears when it is discussed. To some, “home” is where they grew up, and discussing “home” evokes a wave of emotions as they describe what used to be. For others, “home” is their current abode that they are now raising their first child in. For them, “home” instills a sense of warmth and happiness as they think about the future that awaits them within its four walls. Then there are some, who define “home” as where there heart is. It could be on the soccer field, on the ocean floating in a boat, or walking on soft pine needles through the forest. For those, “home” is not confined by walls, but is an outdoor sanctuary where they feel at rest.

“The outside world slips away and I look around with the sudden realization – I’m Home” – Saul Weisberg

Over the past week, we have begun dissecting the various meanings of “home” and how this applies to the outdoors. In the readings, we have learned how the sense of community in the Winthrop area provokes a sense of “home” in one author. We also learned how “home” was viewed from the back of a horse while passing through the Pasayten Wilderness. The feeling of being “home” was fostered by a connection to the environment around them and the serenity that the outdoors afforded them. This connection then provided a need to protect the environment and preserve it for generations to follow.

As an outdoor educator, how does one foster a sense of “home” for someone newly exploring an area? How do we provide a platform for that individual to grow from in order begin making that connection?

These are the questions I have been struggling with for the past few weeks. In addition to these questions, I have been struggling to better understand how the North Cascades National Park and North Cascades Institute reach out to the general public, in order to invite them into the heart of the North Cascades. I believe that that the current visitors to both the park and the learning center are people who already have that connection with the outdoors and the desire to preserve it in its current state. But, what is being done in order to invite new people into the woods that do not have that connection with the North Cascades or wilderness in general?

One thing that I would like to focus on over the next two years is identifying and creating new outreach programs for the North Cascades National Park to bring in new visitors. While bringing in new visitors is only the first step, I would also like to work on programs to support these visitors to allow them to foster their continued growth within the park. During our discussions with Andrew Pringle, NPS Interpretive Director, he identified that nearly 40,000 visitors step through the doors of the North Cascades National Park visitors center annually, while nearly 400,000 drive through the park on highway 20. What can be done to have the additional 90% step out of their cars and access the parks? Furthermore, there are two significantly large cities in a three-hour radius of the park with over one million citizens. What can be done to entice those residents to journey into the park and have a memorable experience leading to a future connection? When taking public transportation in Seattle, you see photos of glacier capped peaks and mountain goats advertising the beauty of Montana. Why is there nothing being done to educate our local Seattle population that by journeying a few hours north they can have the same exact experience?

Last summer I was standing in front of the wilderness boundary at Slate Peak admiring the view, when a couple came up and stood next to me. At that spot, there was conveniently located a sign from the forest service describing that the area before you was designated wilderness and was a very small percentage of such land in the US. It went onto explain the benefits of wilderness and why this land was so unique and necessary. I distinctly remember the couple saying, “I had no idea this was even here. It’s sad to know there aren’t more places like this.” What I remember thinking at that moment was “it’s sad to think that no one knows this is here, and we can’t preserve more land like this.”

“To know the future we must know the place we call home. The stories of common landscapes are as powerful as human histories and as knowable” – Saul Weisberg