NAI Blog

I’ve been watching with keen interest as our new President struggles to meet the challenges of a rapidly deteriorating economy. As a part of the recently adopted economic stimulus package, over $2 billion was allocated to addressing long-overdue maintenance and construction projects in our national parks. I found myself thinking of an earlier President facing similar challenges, and how the National Park Service and US Forest Service played a key role in economic recovery from the Great Depression.

Horace Albright succeeded Steven Mather to become the second Director of the National Park Service in January of 1929, a year that also ushered in Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Over the next 4 years Albright kept the park service going, despite the fact that 50% of the NPS budget was cut. When Franklin Roosevelt assumed the Presidency in January of 1933, Albright seized an opportunity that would benefit America’s parks and forests to the present day. Within two weeks of taking office, Roosevelt began to implement his New Deal plans. Albright stepped up to be Interior’s representative on a planning team that included the Labor Department, War Department and USDA. Their charge was to generate a program to put young men to work, teach them useful skills and build the confidence of a generation that had lost faith in itself. Albright convinced the team that there were innumerable projects to be tackled in America’s parks and forests, and that education, physical conditioning and skills training could be incorporated to make a complete package. The result was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Labor selected the workers, the War Department handled the logistics of transporting, clothing, housing and feeding “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” and the park service and forest service put them to work.

At its height, the CCC operated over 4,000 camps with over 300,000 men at work, and over 3 million men participated in the CCC during its existence. This program was so successful, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other programs followed that included more conservation projects as well as employment and training in many other areas. The CCC was rolled into the formal war effort in 1942 as the US entered WWII, and many of the CCC workers joined the military. Many of the bridges, buildings, roads and other projects the CCC built in our parks and forests are still in use 70 years later, and we have all been the beneficiaries of those programs born of the Great Depression.

Today we face strikingly similar circumstances, perhaps a parallel episode in our nation’s history. If Horace Albright were here with us, he might advise us to look for the opportunities in these hard times. There’s a renewed enthusiasm to reinvest in America, and to revisit some basic values that have always been a source of strength for us. Our connection to the land, to our heritage, to the resources that have sustained us through time—these are things that provide us with inspiration, strength, confidence—and they are very important to our country at this critical time. This is what we interpreters do, we keep people connected to their heritage. We can dispense inspiration in times of desperation. Do not doubt for a minute the critical need for interpreters at this time, but also look for the ways interpreters can address critical needs.

- Jim Covel

A long standing debate in NAI has revolved around the question of being politically active in support of interpretation. Historically, we haven’t gone there. Many of us eschew politics to start with. As a 501(c)3 we’ve also been timid about any activity that might endanger our tax-exempt status. But it may be worth reconsidering our traditional position on political activity.

With a new administration in Washington there is the potential for legislation and policy that may significantly benefit interpretation—or hurt it. One good example is the bailout legislation that is currently moving through Congress. While this bill will provide new resources in a number of areas that benefit the American public, there is also wording that specifically bans zoos, aquariums, museums from applying for these funds. That stands to hurt—or at least ignore—some important public education efforts that could benefit from a little extra help at this time.

So the question is, Should NAI take a position on such legislation in support of interpretation? Should we urge our members to contact their representatives in support of a particular position? Does this run the risk of losing our non-profit status? Is it in keeping with our mission? All good questions. Here’s a little more background that may inform the discussion:

As a non-profit, we can expend up to 20% of our total resources (funds, labor, materials) on political advocacy without triggering the “lobbying organization” label with the IRS. To be on the safe side, we can take an educational approach and inform our membership about pending legislation and urge them to learn more and make their opinions known to their representatives. That’s just promoting active citizenship and has no relation to lobbying as long as there is no encouragement to support a yes or no vote. The one thing we absolutely cannot do is support any particular candidate or party in an election.

Since so many of us operate in an agency environment where policy and legislation influence is so much of what we do, I (personally) would think it would behoove us to be more aware of the political processes and legislative agendas that ultimately impact us. That seems very appropriate to NAI’s vision to be the voice of the profession of interpretation.

If you have an opinion one way or another whether NAI should do more to inform us about legislation or policy decisions we should weigh in on, please let us know. Here’s your chance to lobby NAI leadership….

- Jim Covel

President, NAI

E-books represent a growing opportunity for both writers and readers in every field. I sat down at the computer to write about E-books from NAI, and National Public Radio playing in background launched into a story on E-books. I listened before typing to find out what they were thinking. A lot of their story is about “digital readers” like Kindle II from Amazon or the competitive products for downloading and reading E-books. The debate about E-book readers is interesting but not my story. 

I get excited about E-books for a different reason. You can publish and distribute a book that would never get published as a “printed book” because of limited market size. At NAI we have members bring us great ideas for a book that we think we would be useful in the  profession but likely would only sell to hundreds of users. As an E-book, that can work. They are downloaded as PDF files. They can have hundreds of color photos. They can be updated as often as the author and publisher have time to make changes. Some of the new software even protects the author from free distribution of the book by corrupting the PDF file if it is passed on to a different machine for reading. 

InterpPress has printed eight titles in the past five years and one of the early ones has not sold enough copies to pay the costs of printing it yet. Yet, it is a great book providing important information to the profession. We clearly overestimated how many would buy it. 

In 2009 we will publish three or four E-books and pay royalties to the authors. The royalties for E-books are much higher than for printed books. These new E-books on interpretation will be downloadable from our website at www.interpnet.com and easily purchased through our Association Store software, just like buying a printed book. Most importantly they will be titles we know will appeal to members, but might not have become a printed book because of the limited market for the title. 

If you have a book idea that could be an important training resource for interpreters, contact Paul Caputo on our staff and share your idea before you fully write or develop it. If it shows promise for InterpPress, Paul will let you know and we will work with you on developing the product. 

Are you reading E-books on any subject?  Comment below. We would like to know what attracted you to an E-book.

- Tim Merriman

When the No Child Left Inside movement started it was just a few groups coordinated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, but they have done a great job of enlisting supporters. There are now over 1,000 groups representing 40 million constituents committed to getting Congress to spending more funds and effort on getting children out of the formal classroom to learn in a more “hands-on” fashion.

If you haven’t seen the “Get ‘em Outside” video, check out YouTube. It’s an excellent five minute film on the subject.

We were trying to start a nature school in Fort Collins, CO, on the site of the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program and were unable to get a charter. We did not have enough parents recruited with “letters of intent.” If you work on this kind of initiative, the learning curve on how to get chartered is steep but a worthy effort. We will hope the cause is not dead here, but delayed.

If you want to add your organization’s name to the list of No Child Left Inside supporters, visit No Child Left Inside. It could make a real difference as the bill to support this gets further through the legislative process.

-Tim Merriman

Enda Mills Kiley (1919-2009)
Enda Mills Kiley, the only child of Enos Mills, one of the forefathers of interpretation, passed away at the age of 89 January 13, 2009. Enda, who lived near Rocky Mountain National Park, was a friend to many in NAI. She is pictured here in 2004, holding a photo of her father, at her home in Estes Park, Colorado.

Every time I mention the name of Enos Mills in a presentation I also think about Enda. Enos died at 52 years of age in 1922 when Enda was only three years old. She was very much her father’s daughter in carrying on his passionate work in helping others slow down and take a more respectful approach to nature.

It was a very special moment for me in the mid-1980s, when I represented the Association of Interpretive Naturalists at a tribute held at Enos Mills’ Cabin on Long’s Peak. It was my first introduction to Enda and her husband, Bob. They were gracious in showing me around the cabin and their home nearby. Enda showed great joy in interpreting her father’s work as a nature guide and author.

Lisa Brochu and I last visited with Enda on April 22nd, 2006, when she was being honored at the library in Estes Park. She said to us, “You know what day this is?” We said, Earth Day and I believe the birthday of John Muir. She remarked, “I didn’t know that. It was my father’s birthday also, April 22nd. I don’t think he knew it was also Muir’s birthday.” It turns out that Muir’s birthday is the day before, April 21. Enos Mills admired Muir very much and attributed his own passionate career to having met Muir early on. We will miss Enda very much. Her daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Eryn continue to share the story of Enos Mills at the cabin near Estes Park, Colorado, and through the publication of his books.

If you would like to add comments to her memorial page, go to http://www.interpnet.com/about_nai/endakiley.shtml.

-Tim Merriman

Do they really not shoot at signs in Canada? It’s an interesting question. Folks certainly shoot at them in the U.S. They shoot at regulatory signs, interpretive signs, and anything that looks like an interesting target in remote locations. Shooting and drinking is practically the official local sport in some communities.

This past week, we were in Fort Langley, British Columbia to teach an interpretive planning course. Lisa Brochu was teaching a segment on interpretive media and showed many slides of interpretive signs of varied materials. Some stand up to weather, gunshots and vandalism better than others. We had 22 participants in the course, nineteen of which work for Parks Canada. When she mentioned that porcelain enamel is a great medium for color work on signs but very expensive and vulnerable to gunshots, one participant remarked, “They shoot signs in the U.S.?” We had to admit to this strange behavior. He said, “That’s not a problem so much in Canada.”

Lisa commented that Canadians are just nice people. Another person assured us that Canadians aren’t as nice as they seem. Nothing during the week upheld that claim. They were terrific participants in the course.

The Interpretive Planning course is taught about six times a year around the U.S. This was our second course of the kind in Canada, our first being in Alberta several years ago. It’s a great venue for architects, landscape architects, designers, planners, writers, supervisors, site managers and interpreters to learn about the interpretive planning process. You have classes on four mornings on the planning process and then apply the principles in the afternoon by working in three-person teams on a real interpretive plan to be presented on the fifth day. It’s a lot of work but participants praise it for being such a practical, hands-on learning experience. It also helps those who work for agencies and nonprofits in learning how to work with contractors and get the results they want.

Another course is now being offered by NAI on “Interpretation by Design.” Paul Caputo and Lisa Brochu teach the two-day course and it will help anyone wanting more practical lessons on design of non-personal interpretive materials.

If you want to bring an interpretive planning course to your site, check out the information at http://www.interpnet.com/download/CIPagreement.pdf and call Lisa Brochu toll-free at 888-900-8283 if you have questions or want to start the process. Registration information to attend an Interpretive Planning course or Interpretation by Design course can be found at http://www.interpnet.com/certification/cert_calendar.shtml.

-Tim Merriman