Arrowhead • Winter 2008 1 Arrowhead Winter 2008 • Vol. 15 • No. 1 The Newsletter of the Employees & Alumni Association of the National Park Service Published By Eastern National FROM THE DIRECTOR National Park Service Budget Emphasizes e are all be- Park Operations to Prepare for Centennial Wcoming more aware of how much children need n Feb. 4, 2008, President Bush pro- west parks will be used to increase law national inventory of historic properties. nature for their Oposed $2.4 billion in fiscal year 2009 enforcement staffing levels in multi- The initiative is one of the recommenda- physical, psycho- for the National Park Service, including agency border operations as part of tions of a 2006 Preserve America Summit. logical and emo- $2.13 billion for operation of the Nation- Interior’s Safe Borderlands Initiative. The FY 2009 proposal includes an tional health. That’s al Park System. This $160.9 million The funding will be distributed to increase of more than $1 million for Civil why the National increase over the FY 2008 request for park Amistad NRA, Big Bend NP, Coronado War battlefield grants. The grants are used Leadership Council (NLC) has operations will bolster visitor services and N MEM, Organ Pipe Cactus NM and with matching state or local funds to pur- focused our attention on the impor- tance of educating America’s chil- protect park resources and facilities. NPS Padre Island NS. chase land or acquire permanent, protec- dren about the outdoors. At our NLC Director Mary Bomar lauded the budget This funding increase includes $1 mil- tive interests in land at Civil War meeting last September, held jointly proposal saying, “This increase will help lion to restore resources in these five parks battlefields listed in the Civil War Sites with our colleagues in the National the National Park Service prepare for our and in six other border parks that have Advisory Commission’s 1993 Report on Association of State Park Directors, centennial in 2016 by focusing resources suffered significant environmental dam- the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields. we pledged to address this need. on vital aspects of our mission.” age due to drug traffickers and undocu- In addition to a promising FY 2009 After all, “connecting children with The request includes increases of nearly mented persons traversing the parks. The budget, the NPS could benefit from nature” (as well as history and cul- $45 million for targeted park base core additional parks are Chamizal N MEM, another $200 million as the result of ture) is something we have always operations, $36 million for parks’ fixed Chiricahua NM/Fort Bowie NHS, Palo President Bush’s Centennial Challenge. done in the parks. Through our park costs, $22.8 million for cyclic mainte- Alto Battlefield NHS, Rio Grande WSR, President Bush last year called for an programs, we provide a deeper nance, $20 million for natural resource Saguaro NP and Tumacacori NHP. annual account of up to $100 million of understanding of the meaning of federal money to be matched each year by parks to our children and inspire health and $8 million for Servicewide The FY 2009 budget includes $10 mil- them to protect these precious natu- training and professional development lion for Preserve America and $15 million $100 million of donations from the ral and cultural resources when they programs. The natural resource projects for Save America’s Treasures. President American people to engage people with become adults. will work to restore natural lands by con- and First Lady Laura Bush launched Pre- their parks and to prepare national parks I am pleased to announce a new trolling invasive plant species and reintro- serve America in 2003. This initiative for another century of preservation, con- initiative—Kids in Parks—that will ducing native plants. The training and encourages states and local communities servation and enjoyment. provide new products and tools development program will prepare a new to partner with the federal government to The 2009 budget includes a mandatory and will promote information about generation of park managers to guide the preserve the fabric of the American story. funding request for a Centennial Chal- opportunities for kids and their fam- NPS into the next century. The NPS will also coordinate and pro- lenge fund and requires legislation to ilies to enjoy their national parks. A $5.2 million increase for five south- vide grants at the state level to establish a continued on page 10 Deputy Director Lindi Harvey is leading this initiative and is putting her full energy behind it. Her enthu- siasm for this project is contagious! Our Kids in Parks initiative will Memorial Dedicated at the African Burial soon offer, in cooperation with Eastern National, a new Kids’ Passport book. Other products Ground National Monument include a new coloring book high- lighting the importance of volunteer- ing and of being good stewards n Oct. 5, 2007, the NPS, in partner- (more about this new product Oship with the U.S. General Services below); a fun kid-friendly website; Administration (GSA), the African Burial and many more exciting programs Ground Monument Foundation, the that will help our parks engage kids Office of the Mayor, City of New York, with the outdoors and a healthier and the Schomburg Center for Research lifestyle—so stay tuned. in Black Culture, dedicated a new memo- National Park Week and Junior rial at the African Burial Ground NM Ranger Day are soon approaching, in Lower Manhattan. The permanent and Deputy Director Harvey’s team is memorial, constructed to honor the planning Junior Ranger Day on the National Mall on April 26. I hope each memories of the free and enslaved park will schedule something really Africans buried at the original seven-acre special on that day that highlights site in the 17th and 18th centuries, was what you already do to inspire chil- opened to the public for the first time fol- dren to cherish the outdoors. Our lowing a dedication ceremony. national day dedicated to Junior The burial ground was rediscovered in Rangers began last year, so let’s 1991 when construction began on a fed- keep it going! To help you, we will eral office building in Lower Manhattan. Tami A. Heilemann, DOI provide your park with the new col- As the largest and oldest African cemetery oring book, produced with the sup- excavated in North America, the burial SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR DIRK KEMPTHORNE speaks at the Oct. 5 port of the National Park Foundation dedication of the African Burial Ground NM memorial in New York City. so there is no cost to you or the kids, ground is one of the most significant as a fun outreach effort to celebrate archeological finds in U.S. history. The the African Burial Ground NM. Since Ground tells the story of the contribu- Junior Ranger Day. Also, Eastern burial ground stretched more than five then, GSA has played a pivotal role in the tions of enslaved and free Africans in the National will have available a “Kids’ city blocks during the 17th and 18th cen- extensive mitigation response to the life and building of the early Dutch Visit to Washington, D.C. Parks” turies, and it is estimated that over unearthed remains and conception and colony of New Amsterdam, which cancellation book with a special 15,000 enslaved and free Africans were completion of the NPS’ interpretive cen- would later become New York City. The stamp—a preview of the Kids’ Pass- buried there. port under development! Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne ter in the Ted Weiss Federal Building at history of the site reveals how New York We are also working with our State delivered the keynote address. “Today, in 290 Broadway and the exterior memori- played an early and critical role in the Park colleagues to schedule special dedicating this monument, we declare al. Construction on the memorial, which trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is the events inviting kids to enjoy activities once again that this place is sacred. We pay was designed by Rodney Léon, president newest national monument in New and an outdoor experience in neigh- and co-founder of Aarris Architects, York City, joining the Statue of Liberty, boring communities. The NLC totally tribute to the lives of those buried here. supports this effort, and appreciates We celebrate their humanity, a humanity began in 2005. Governors Island and Castle Clinton. what you are already doing to con- that tragically was not recognized in their The first Africans arrived in New The opening of the new memorial is nect Kids in Parks. After all, this is lifetime,” he said. “We often think of his- Amsterdam about 1625. Along with the result of an ongoing partnership one of the most important things we tory in terms of famous leaders and great European merchants, traders, sailors between the public and private sectors do! And please tell us about your battlegrounds. But what we remember and farmers, these enslaved workers dating to the rediscovery of the site. plans—you may even get Secretary here today—the people we commemo- helped to establish the early colony. An advisory group, the African Burial of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to Ground Federal Steering Committee, come visit your park to see for him- rate—is truly our history.” Throughout the 17th and 18th cen- self what you’re doing with kids! In 1991, the remains of 419 African turies, Africans were an important part provided recommendations to assist in planning for the site. The dedication —Mary Bomar men, women and children were unearth- of the city’s population, reaching a peak ed by archeologists at the site that is now of over 20 percent.