| Part of the Picture -
Human communities are often part of the landscape in national parks. One
park official says they need to be preserved along with nature.
(Note from ND: Interesting story about the superintendent of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in Ohio.) Script for Tuesday, November 23, 1999 By Eric Kurtz Earthwatch Radio (produced by Gaylord Nelson Institute and University of Wisconsin Sea Grant) http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/earthwatch/ Website contact form: http://ewradio.org/contactus.aspx America's national parks were created to preserve natural, cultural and historic resources. But the human aspect often gets left out. That's the opinion of John Debo, superintendent of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in Ohio. Debo says some national parks surround towns, villages and farms. He says park service policy is to buy them out. "I think some very important cultural assets -- these communities, towns, villages, farmsteads, whatever -- have been placed within park boundaries and then, of course, subsequently eliminated. We have a name for these things; it's called inholders. It's really a pejorative term; it suggests that it's something that's there that shouldn't be there." Debo says many of the homes bought by the park service are historic buildings protected by law. In some cases, the parks have converted them to museums. But many of these buildings have remained vacant and boarded up, creating eyesores. Debo says Cuyahoga Valley takes a different approach. "We're essentially arriving at the decision that the highest and best use, from a park perspective, of these properties is private residential occupancy. That is what is historically authentic. I'm really not interested in turning these villages into museum landscapes." Debo says Cuyahoga enters into long-term leases on these properties -- and even sells houses back to people. Deed restrictions ensure that owners preserve the historic value of the houses. Debo says rather than trying to eliminate or ignore inholder communities, the National Park Service should take an interest in their well-being. He says many of them are centuries old and can be a historical asset to the national parks. Copyright University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute http://ewradio.org/program.aspx?ProgramID=303 Additional reading: Eric Kurtz: Institute for Environmental Studies 550 North Park Street, Room 9 University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 53706 608-263-9289 http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/earthwatch/ printfriendly_whoweare_people.asp |