National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway State of the Park 2009 Foreword The accomplishments of the the way we manage the park for many years. A key step park this past year are impressive, this year was engaging the public through a series of reflecting the diversity of the Open Houses that were held this past summer and fall resources that make up the in all three Units of the park. Thousands of visitors park itself. A sampling of these spoke with us and provided written comments that will accomplishments include help us to better understand the public’s expectations. breaking ground to rehabilitate More opportunities to provide input will also be the original airport terminal for available when draft management alternatives are made the City of New York on Floyd available in 2010. Bennett Field, a collaborative Our third and perhaps most daunting challenge is effort to plant 1,000 new trees, trying to comprehend the implications that global establishing a new active climate change will have on Gateway’s resources. To recreation program that introduced leisure kayaking to better understand this question, Gateway partnered new audiences, completing several new miles of a multi- with researchers at Columbia University to develop use trail at Sandy Hook and promoting innovative living options for an adaptive strategy that will help guide our history programs throughout the park. These and all the decisions for protecting park resources from damage or accomplishments chronicled in this report reflect the loss. This, of course, is an ongoing effort that will span combined efforts that our staff and our partners made the efforts of both current and future generations, but to preserve the significant cultural and natural features hopefully the groundwork that is now being established of Gateway, while continually working to provide will help to prepare us for the changes that many believe environmental leadership and superior visitor services. are inevitable. Looking forward, Gateway is preparing to meet Finally, I wish to thank the staff, our partners and our the significant changes that are both current and volunteers who have worked so hard to serve the millions anticipated over the next two decades. Reacting to of visitors who came to Gateway this past year. The range the reality of demands on our budget that far exceed of our programs reflects the commitment each of you available funds, the park recently instituted a new make to reach a diverse audience, to foster partnerships organizational structure. This structure is designed to cut and to provide opportunities for visitor enjoyment. Faced fixed expenses, while preserving our ability to protect with significant challenges you remain steadfast in your important resources and meet our commitment to dedication to an urban National Park that is the pride of provide core visitor programs. our region, and for that we are grateful. We are also proceeding with our multi-year effort to Barry T. Sullivan build a new General Management Plan that will guide Superintendent Cover: NPS Photos Left to right, clockwise: Birders, Jamaica Bay; Officers Row, Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook; Battery Weed and Verrazano Bridge from Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island; Resource Management, Jamaica Bay; 4th of July celebration, Sandy Hook; Sandy Hook Lighthouse, Sandy Hook; Battery Weed, Fort Wadsworth; Piping Plover chick, Sandy Hook; Junior Ranger Firefighter Program, Sandy Hook; Kayaking Program, Jamaica Bay. ImprovIng the vIsItor experIence Harbor Conservancy, by the National Park Foundation and Coca Cola Company, enabled Roadmap for the Future this successful and popular pilot The General Management Plan (GMP) Public Open Houses program. The grant allowed for were held throughout the park this past summer. Individuals the designation of a water trail, were afforded the opportunity to look at displays on the classroom instruction and the GMP process and talk with the Civic Engagement Team chance to test drive their skills. members. Many suggestions were received and recorded for The new program brought future analysis during the GMP process. These Open Houses new skills to youth in the area were just a first step. There will be additional rounds of public and provided opportunities involvement and meetings as the plan progresses. The GMP to explore the plentiful water will take several years to complete and involve employee resources found at Jamaica Bay. input and that of the general public, visitors, stakeholders and other agencies. This General Management Plan will be a Hooping It Up at Miller Field roadmap to guide us for the next twenty years. Teams “hooped it up” at Gateway’s second Climate Change Report Released annual 5-on-5 Basketball In coordination with the park, Columbia Tournament, held this past University released the Gateway National summer at Miller Field. The Recreation Area, Long-term Resource tournament spanned four Management Under a Changing Climate weekends over the course of the report. Over the next century, climate summer. Girls and boys ages change will significantly affect human and © Sung Won Kim 15 to 16 years old from both ecological systems. At Gateway, climate Staten Island and Long Island change adaptation means increasing participated in the NPS-sponsored basketball tournament. ecosystem resilience and protecting cultural First, second, and third place prizes were awarded to and recreational resources from damage or the winning teams and basketball medals were given to loss. The new General Management Plan all participants. Miller Field is a popular recreation area is the ideal opportunity to incorporate climate change with 187 acres of open grounds, home to a variety of considerations into planning and decision-making. The sports fields, a bocce court, playgrounds, and picnic area. options for an adaptation strategy outlined in the report are Altogether, there are 80 leagues and 2,000 teams that utilize an initial framework from which can build. Implementing Miller Field’s sports facilities throughout the year. an adaptation strategy can help Gateway fulfill its mandate to continue to preserve and protect the park’s natural and Citizen Scientists cultural resources for future generations. “Marine Invaders,” the citizen science program designed by Have Paddles, Will Travel the National Parks of New York This past summer more than 800 visitors, aged 10 to 14, Harbor Education Center, has were introduced to kayaking, canoeing, and paddling by passed from the pilot phase to a park rangers at Canarsie Pier in the Jamaica Bay Unit. fully realized school program. At Volunteers of the Sebago Canoe Club, Inc. and a $50,000 the Floyd Bennett Field seaplane grant provided through the National Parks of New York ramp, students follow protocol designed by National Park Service resource specialists its Junior Ranger program to 5,000 young to record what coastal organisms live on rocky shores. visitors in 2009. The new updated Junior Students particularly look for Asian shore crabs, a recent Ranger Program booklet includes self-guided invasive species now being studied by biologists at the activities geared toward children visiting the Rutgers University Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences park, and highlights significant cultural and and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. natural resources at four different sites in the As “citizen scientists,” students record data which will be Jamaica Bay Unit: Floyd Bennett Field, Fort shared with scientists at these institutions. The program, Tilden, Jacob Riis Park, and the Jamaica Bay now offered at various Gateway sites, could be adopted Wildlife Refuge. Participants who completed by National Park Service units along the eastern seaboard the Junior Ranger Programs were awarded a site-specific from Massachusetts to Maryland, which would increase the patch and Junior Ranger Program completion certificate. breadth of data collection. Digital Natives Green and Eco-Conscious Travel The National Parks of New York Harbor Education In partnership with the New York City Economic Center hosted Digital Natives and Analog Parks, a one-day Development Corporation, ferry service to Gateway’s Riis workshop on new media and new audiences. More than 30 Landing and eco cruises on Jamaica Bay continued this NPS employees and partners attended from parks in New year. The ferry service offered a “green” transportation York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Boston. Dr. William alternative from Manhattan to the beaches at Riis Park. Kornblum, professor of sociology at the City University of The ranger-lead eco cruises allowed visitors the chance to New York, presented a survey of CUNY undergraduate experience Jamaica Bay wildlife up close. Tours were well perceptions of the parks. Following the presentations, received by visitors of all ages with almost 1,000 visitors National Park Service employees brainstormed about ways enjoying both eco and sunset cruises. to work together in developing new media and services to attract younger, more diverse audiences. A video of the Free Shuttle Bus Expands Visitor Experience workshop has been edited and is available on request. Visitors to the park who arrived by New York Water Taxi were offered an Summer Teacher Institute opportunity to see more sites via the new The National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center, National Park Service Visitor Transport in collaboration with African Burial Ground National Shuttle Service. The free shuttle originated Monument, received a “Parks as Classroom” grant to host at Riis Landing on the Rockaway Peninsula the first Summer Teacher Institute for the new park. Held with stops at the Jacob Riis Park Boardwalk, in late July 2009, the three-day institute attracted nearly the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, and at two dozen New Floyd Bennett Field, including the Aviator Sports Center York City-area and the Historic Aircraft Restoration Hangar. teachers of grades 4 through 12. In the Junior Ranger Programs Expand mornings, teachers listened to scholars Children ages 7 to 12 were invited to join park rangers for a present the latest host of new Junior Ranger programs this summer.