National Parks: The American Experience

This book provides a good history of the national parks. The first chapters on the history of the national park idea and the national park system are particularly interesting and well-written. Runte emphasizes "cultural nationalism" as an explanation for the park idea, the notion that American cultural identity could rest on our relationship with wilderness and scenery, and thus best be established in opposition to Europe, where culture is tied to human history. Runte makes those claims well, but the first edition attracted the most attention for its "worthless lands" thesis, and this edition begins with a response to his critics. This is a very measured response, emphasizing clarification more than argumentation, but Runte stands his ground on the issues. His main claim is that a necessary condition for creation of a park before the 1930s was that the land be worthless or un-economic for primary products such as agriculture, grazing, mining or timber; many of the parks were recognized as valuable for tourism, which is why they were made parks. Properly circumscribed, the thesis gets the first decades right, though it starts to break down at about the time the Everglades NP was established. By the time of the New Deal and Civilian Conservation Corps, the worthless lands thesis is clearly no longer correct. Like other histories of the national parks that I've read, this book emphasizes the trophy parks - - those with monumental scenery such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. Runte nods in the direction of the national recreation areas (like Lake Mead) and urban parks (like Golden Gate) more than most other authors, but he really only mentions them in passing. Many other parks, even beautiful ones, get ignored if they are not famous (Voyageurs, Big Bend, and Theodore Roosevelt, to name three). And what's up with Steamtown USA or Homestead National Monument of American, for crying out loud? Like everyone else he ignores whole categories of national parks, some of which are visited more than the trophy parks - the historic sites in Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston; the battlefield parks; and the Blue Ridge Parkway, among others. Each of those units get 5-15 million visitors a year, while Yosemite and Yellowstone get about 4 million. Even so, I haven't yet found the history of the park system that gives these non-monumental parks justice. Leaving these other parks out matters a *lot* for Runte's thesis. Golden Gate NRA sits on prime real estate in America's most crowded city, and is hardly "worthless" land. The historic sites on the eastern seaboard lie in the most valuable parts of Boston, New York and Philadelphia - not to mention the National Mall and other sites in Washington DC. Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Manassas, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga/Chattanooga and other battlefields are subject to strong development pressures and surrounded by suburban growth. Cuyahoga, Santa Monica Mountains, Cape Cod, and ot

Almost a century and a half ago, Yosemite and Yellowstone gave birth to the National Park idea. Even in the 21st century the concept's definition is not concrete. Alfred Runte's important contribution to environmental history tells the story of the national park idea since its inception and its continued reinterpretation. According to Runte, cultural nationalism sparked the National Park idea, not environmentalism. Americans enjoyed finding natural wonders that rivaled or even surpassed Europe's scenic beauty. At first national parks served as symbols of national pride and, in time, as areas of public recreation (14). As National Parks thoroughly discusses, economics, not altruism, have played a huge role in the designation and management of national parks. "Worthless" land - land which could not be utilized in the form of mining, farming or another pursuit - determined which landmarks the nation protected as well as how it would protect them (49). In principle, the nation believed in the contradictory statement, worthless land builds cultural nationalism. The early preservationist movement rested on what scenery lacked rather than what it contained (58). Wilderness preservation was not the primary justification for national parks until the 1930s. Until then preservationists supported actions contrary to their primary aims. Preservationists encouraged tourism both to show a recognized use for the land as well as demonstrate that tourism might generate more revenue from the land than could be earned by exploiting its natural resources. Preservationists allied themselves with railroads and concessionaires that pushed for designation of parks to increase passenger traffic to each natural preserve and, in turn, income. The damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite taught preservationists to rely as much on economic rationales for protection as on the standard emotional ones (83). Preservationists actually encouraged the development of more roads and trails in National Parks, fearing alternate uses such as reservoirs. Runte opens his narrative by describing the sad state of Niagara Falls, which even as early as 1860 became commercialized with gatehouses and fences rimming the cascades as numerous curio hawkers annoyed each visitor. Niagara Falls became one of the first warnings against the negative outcome of encroachment upon national wonders and strong evidence in convincing Congress to designate Yellowstone a national park (9). The early intrusion of capitalists at Niagara Falls proved a harbinger of things to come. Contradictory to Niagara's warnings against decimation of natural beauty, national parks, by their mere designation, became attractions corporations pounced on to extract tourist dollars with little thought to consequences. Runte's exhibits his smooth writing style. He expertly transitions from one chapter to the next. He organizes his narrative topically and generally follows a chronological order but backtracks on occasio