When the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park held its annual meeting on Saturday at Cinnamon Bay, the mood of the event was markedly different from the celebratory tone of recent years.
Maybe it was the rainy weather, and maybe it was the chilling news that on Thursday the National Park Service removed an exhibit about slavery from the President’s House Site, part of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.
The Friends VINP annual meetings usually begin with a list of their many accomplishments, such as the number of children taught to swim, the miles of trails cleared by volunteers, and the number of scholarships awarded to Virgin Islanders.
This year, Tonia Lovejoy, executive director of the Friends VINP, highlighted two upcoming initiatives — a visitor use data project beginning in February that will help park officials plan for the future, and the release of a documentary film about Tektite, the underwater study site at Lameshur Bay established by NASA and the Navy that led to the development of dive tables.
But this year, unlike past years, park officials kept a very low profile. VINP Park Superintendent Penelope “Penny” Del Bene read only a brief prepared statement and didn’t stay to respond to audience questions.
In her speech, Del Bene noted that the Virgin Islands National Park was celebrating its 70th anniversary and the Coral Reef National Monument its 25th anniversary as the country was celebrating its 250th year of independence.
Deb Yandala, the keynote speaker at Saturday’s meeting, said, “Parks are going to need us more and more.” She began her 32 years of work with the Conservancy for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, raising money for cultural programming and representing the park at community events.
Over the years, she found that she needed to raise money to construct a parking lot and bathrooms, infrastructure that in the past would be funded by the National Park Service. “Budgets are flat, yet personnel costs go up, building costs go up, and visitations increase. We need to hold the government accountable while also meeting the needs of (park visitors),” she said.
“We need strong advocacy,” Yandala continued. “Parks are forever. We are in the ‘forever business.’” She said, regardless of what political leaders say, “Parks are laboratories for climate change. Glaciers are melting. Species are changing.” The Friends VINP and similar organizations have to assist in resource protection, she said.
She complimented the Friends VINP and audience members for their contributions.
Lovejoy said the National Park Service is subject to the Reduction in Force Act, and although the VINP work plan calls for a staff of 70, the park currently has only 28 full-time, permanent employees. More and more, the park relies on seasonal hires. Friends VINP employees are now being trained to take on some of the roles formerly held by park staff.
Lovejoy noted that although the VINP recently hired Greg Luna to replace Ken Wild as the park’s archaeologist, “two hundred years of institutional knowledge walked out the door” as more than a half dozen staff members retired in the last few years.
With Del Bene absent, an audience member asked Lovejoy if there was news about the reconstruction of Caneel Bay. Lovejoy said she didn’t have an update. “We were supposed to have information in September.”
The Friends VINP continues to apply for grants and hold fundraising activities, including boat rides and a villa rental auction.
Ki’Janne´Alfred recently stepped into Lovejoy’s first job with the Friends VINP as development officer to raise funds to continue and expand the organization’s initiatives. An “angel investor” recently stepped up to fund the Friends’ learn to swim program, which offers free classes every Saturday morning to children and adults.
The park will be holding its annual fundraising gala and raffle on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Lovango Resort and Beach Club. Tickets are available at https://friendsvinp.org/annual-gala/.
Following the event, Glen Speer, who was part of the group that helped create the Friends VINP, reflected on the changes in its mission since its inception. The NPS signed documents to create the Friends VINP on Earth Day, April 22, 1988.
“Basically, the Friends’ first board was created out of a list of individuals from St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, who had a lot of different relationships with the park,” Speer said. “It was never about money; it was about people giving ideas. In today’s world, we’re more and more relying on donations.”
Speer said the notion of a Friends organization was initiated by Laurance Rockefeller in 1987, who brought down representatives from similar organizations to meet with community leaders from all three islands. “He wanted us to pay attention to what the NPS was doing. There was skulduggery where resources were being sold — mostly in the Grand Canyon – but he wanted to set up a watchdog.”
Speer said he also saw the Friends as a means of smoothing the path between the National Park Service and St. John families. “In the past, the park appeared to take over and run things. They created skepticism and enemies,” Speer said.
He congratulated the Friends for bringing in young St. Johnians like Ki’Janne´ Alfred, adding he hoped the organization would continue to bring in “volunteer energy” and integrate members of the entire St. John community.
