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Chattanooga: The future of our past

By: Chloé Morrison
(Contact)

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Tom Kiernan

The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park has the potential to become a model facility for the national park system, a parks advocate said Wednesday.

“This is an extraordinary relationship that you have,” said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association. “Among the community, the park, the friends groups — the degree of collaboration, communication, support and the integration of the values of the national park system into the community is extraordinary.”

The park’s reputation as a leader may grow larger with the development of its new Moccasin Bend interpretive center, said Mr. Kiernan, who was making his first trip to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park this week.

To reach that goal, local park officials — and parks officials nationwide — are watching legislation being considered in Congress this week that would commit $100 million in federal funds for the National Park Service if private donors can match that amount.

If approved, the legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., also would authorize a 10-year Centennial Challenge program, providing money to improve and rehabilitate national parks across the nation in the years leading up to the park service’s 100th birthday in 2016.

“The Centennial Challenge ... will go a long way toward improving park facilities, aiding conservation efforts, and helping build upon the excellent visitor services already offered,” Sen. Alexander said in a prepared statement. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our country than backing legislation that will aid efforts to preserve our national parks.”

If the proper management, funding and planning is put in place, the city of Chattanooga and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park have an opportunity to become a leader in the historic preservation arena while maintaining successful economic development, officials said.

“The opportunity to have, literally, a world-class park experience directly adjacent to downtown will be the envy of metropolitan areas across the country if it is sensitively developed and you offer your visitors a chance to step back in time,” said Don Barger, the conservation group’s Southeast regional manager and a Red Bank native.

Kay Parish, executive director of Friends of the Park, called the bill “one of the most exciting things that has happened to the National Park Service in a long time.”

“We have been working towards that for more than a year,” she said.

Local park officials said more federal money will support landscape and monument restoration, as well as educational programs.

WORKING TO HELP

The National Parks Conservation Association is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan group that was formed about three years after the National Park Service was established in 1916.

The group is both an advocate and critic of the park service, Mr. Barger said. The association, in part, lobbies on behalf of parks and works to identify threats to resources, he said.

Shawn Benge, superintendent of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, said the association’s work has a variety of local impacts.

For example, when local park officials begin the process of updating their general management plan in August, the conservation association will help them outline their vision, he said.

Mr. Benge said the organization typically “gets heavily involved” when most parks go through the general management plan process.

The plan will include the Moccasin Bend site, which contains artifacts chronicling American Indian history dating back 12,000 years as well as Civil War relics. Its interpretative center is scheduled to open in 2011 or 2012.

Sprucing up the national park system may provide a boost for the country’s spirit, conservation officials said. The United States has faced trying times in recent years and, in the years leading up to the centennial, officials said they hope the parks can help restore faith in the nation and a connection to land and history.

“People are looking forward to feeling proud and great about being an American, and the national parks are a place where we can reconnect with patriotism and the proud history of this country,” Mr. Kiernan said.

Mr. Barger said the coming years are a perfect time to renew dedication to national parks.

“In many ways, for me, the centennial is about renewing our vows,” he said. “It is really re-examining our national commitment.”

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