The Role of Environmental History in the National Parks The George Wright Forum The GWS Journal of Parks, Protected Areas & Cultural Sites volume 28 number 2 • 2011 Origins Founded in 1980, the George Wright Society is organized for the pur­ poses of promoting the application of knowledge, fostering communica­ tion, improving resource management, and providing information to improve public understanding and appreciation of the basic purposes of natural and cultural parks and equivalent reserves. The Society is dedicat­ ed to the protection, preservation, and management of cultural and natural parks and reserves through research and education. Mission The George Wright Society advances the scientific and heritage values of parks and protected areas. The Society promotes professional research and resource stewardship across natural and cultural disciplines, provides avenues of communication, and encourages public policies that embrace these values. Our Goal The Society strives to he the premier organization connecting people. places, knowledge, and ideas to foster excellence in natural and cultural resource management, research, protection, and interpretation in parks and equivalent reserves. Board of Directors BRENT A. MITCHELL, President • Ipswich, Massachusetts DAVID J. PARSONS, Vice President • Florence, Montana REBECCA CONARD, Secretary • Mnrfreesboro, Tennessee GARY E. DAVIS. Treasurer • Thousand Oaks, California BRAD BARR • Woods Hole, Massachusetts BARRETT KENNEDY • Baton Rouge, Louisiana FRANKj. PR1ZNAR • Gaithersburg, Maryland MOLLY N. ROSS • Arlington, Virginia JAN W. VAN WACTENDONK • El Portal, California JOHN WAJTHAKA • Ottawa, Ontario Graduate Student Liaison to the Board CARENAJ. VAN RIPER • College Station, Texas Executive Office DAVID HARMON. Executive Director EMILY DEKKER-FIALA, Conference Coordinator P. O. Box 65 • Hancock, Michigan 49950-0065 USA 1-906-487-9722 • infot^georgewright.org • www.georgewright.org Publications Committee JAN W. VAN WACTENDONK (Chair), DAVID GRABER, ROLF DIAMANT. LAVELL MERRITT, JR., ABIGAIL MILLER, JOHN WAITHAKA; REBECCA CONARD & DAVID HARMON (Co-editors, The George Wright Forum) ( 201 1 The George Wright Society. Inc. All rights reserved. (No copy­ right is claimed for previously published material reprinted herein.) ISSN 0792-4715. Editorial and manuscript submission guidelines may he found at www.georgewright.org/forum. Text paper is made of 50% recy­ cled fibers. Printed by Book Concern Printers, Hancock, Michigan. The George Wright Society is a member of US/ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites—U.S. Committee) and IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The George Wright Forum The GWS Journal of Parks, Protected Areas & Cultural Sites volume 28 number 2 • 2011 Society News, Notes & Mail • 112 A Legacy of Neglect: The Ozark National Scenic Riverways Susan Flader • 114 The Role of Environmental History in the National Parks David Louter and Lisa Mighetto, guest editors Introduction David Louter and Lisa Mighetto • 127 Toward a History of Environmental History in the National Parks Mark Fiege • 128 The Need for Legible Landscapes: Environmental History and NPS Management at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore James W. Feldman • 148 The Changing Face of the Country: Environmental History and the Legacy of the Civil War at Stones River National Battlefield Rebecca Conard • 161 Isle Royale National Park: Balancing Human and Natural History in a Maritime Park Philip V. Scarpino • 182 Restoring the Past: Environmental History and Oysters at Point Reyes National Seashore Timothy Babalis • 199 The State of Climate Change Adaptation in Canada’s Protected Areas Sector Christopher J. Lemieux, Thomas J. Beechey, Daniel J. Scott, and Paul A. Gray • 216 On the cover: The area known as the “Slaughter Pen” at Stones River National Battlefield, Tennes- see, was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of this important Civil War clash. The Slaughter Pen is now a key interpretive site in the park. See article starting on p. 161. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Conard. SOCIETY NEWS, NOTES & MAIL New rule would clear path for federal employees to serve on nonprofit boards In May, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) proposed a rule that would clear away the confusion currently reigning over whether active-duty federal employees are allowed to serve on nonprofit boards. At present, each federal department has its own interpretation as to whether service on outside boards is prima facie a potential conflict of interest; within departments, individual agencies also interpret what is permissible differently. Last year, the National Park Service, acting under the direction of the Department of the Interior, prohibited its employees from serving on the board of the George Wright Society, citing the potential for a conflict of interest because of the close working relationship be- tween NPS and GWS and because of the number of NPS employees serving on the GWS Board. The new rule could potentially open the door to NPS employees serving again. Public comment on the proposed rule concluded in early July, and we sent a letter strongly supporting it. “It is very important for current federal employees to have the opportunity to take part fully in the activities of professional societies, including serving in governance posi- tions,” our letter said. The federal government must recognize that “federal employees who are themselves professionals have a legitimate expanded role to play: both as representatives of their agency, and as members of a professional community committed to making intellec- tual advances in the discipline and upholding the integrity of professional conduct within the discipline. Membership in professional organizations, up to and including serving on their governing boards, is a vital part of professional growth and career development.” A decision on the proposed rule is expected within a year. Next Park Break scheduled for March 2012 The next installment of the Park Break alternative spring break program will be held at Dela- ware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania, March 19–23, 2012. Park Break is an all-expenses-paid, park-based field seminar for graduate students who are thinking about a career in park management or park-related research and education. Park Break puts grad students in a national park unit for up to a week’s worth of field and classroom activi- ties in close collaboration with park scientists and scholars, managers and administrators, and partner organizations. The 2012 Park Break project topic will be the creation of a curriculum on sustainable living to be used at the Pocono Environmental Education Center. Park Break student participants will draw on the context of several energy projects that are affecting or could affect the park, such as natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation north of the park, to the propos- al for a power line that would cross the park. Park Break is a joint program of the GWS, National Park Service, and US Geological Survey. For more information, go to http://www.georgewright.org/parkbreak. 112 The George Wright Forum Copies of GWS2011 Program & Abstracts available to members for nominal fee Did you miss the GWS2011 Conference, but would like to know what happened in New Orleans? We have a small number of copies of the GWS Program booklet (44 pp.) and the Abstracts book (232 pp.) available as a set, and would love to get them into your hands. For GWS members, we’ll provide you copies for just a $4.00 shipping charge (to US addresses only; if you are a member outside the US, contact us for shipping costs). For non-members, the cost is $18.00. Contact us at [email protected] for ordering instructions. Annual GWS Board election to commence in September As noted in the last issue, this year there are two seats on the Board of Directors up for election. One is held by Gary E. Davis, who will be running for re-election, and the other by Rebecca Conard, who is stepping down. A slate of candidates has stepped forward, and the election will begin in early to mid-September. Voting is entirely online, so it is important that we have your current email address so we can send you a link to the ballot (including candidates’ statements); your email address is also used to gain access to the ballot. If you’ve recently switched emails, contact us at [email protected] so we can update our database. Then, watch your in-box for the election notice. Volume 28 • Number 2 (2011) 113 A Legacy of Neglect: The Ozark National Scenic Riverways Susan Flader Missouri’s Current River and its tributary, the Jacks Fork, were the nation’s first fed- erally protected rivers. Congressionally authorized in 1964 as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR), they served as a prototype for the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. But in May 2011 ONSR was identified by American Rivers as one of America’s ten most endangered rivers, owing to a history of inadequate management by the National Park Service (NPS). The spring-fed, bluff-lined Current and Jacks Fork are the preeminent “float streams” in a state where floating, fishing, and camping by johnboat or canoe have long been favorite pastimes (Figure 1). The state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Herbert Hadley, led well-publicized float trips on Current River as early as 1909 in an effort to pro- mote tourism and build support for a state park system. When Missouri acquired its first state parks in 1924, they included Round Spring and Big Spring on the Current River and Alley Spring on the Jacks Fork. The rivers early attracted admirers from afar; Aldo Leopold came from Wisconsin in 1926 to float the Current from Van Buren to Doniphan with his brothers (Leopold 1953; Figure 2), then in 1929 bought a shanty on its bank as a base for annual hunts, years before he acquired his celebrated shack in the sand country of Wisconsin. Like many other rivers that eventually won designation as national wild and scenic rivers, the Current was threatened by proposed hydroelectric dams.