July 23, 2008 — The National Park Service, including V.I. National Park, needs to become more relevant to the nation's population, park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove said Wednesday.
"The largest issue for the National Park Service is the country's changing demographics," he said.
Hardgrove spent two days last week attending a National Park Service Superintendents Summit in Utah, where the relevancy issue and other topics were discussed.
The country expects a 400-percent increase in population over the next 100 years, with most of those people immigrating to the United States from other countries, Hardgrove said.
Many of those people aren't familiar with the national park concept. To improve attendance at national parks, the Park Service needs to "tell the park story" in multiple languages.
"And the staff needs to look like the community," Hardgrove said.
The relevancy issue has ramifications at the St. John park, he said, because the island can expect Americans — no matter what their origin — to look to the Virgin Islands when it comes to "living their dream" by moving south.
The St. John park also lost a chance to make the park relevant to local residents in the 1960s, '70s and '80s because it spent those decades telling people what they couldn't do in the park instead of educating them about what was in the park, Hardgrove said.
"But now the kids are having input," he said, speaking about the park's school education programs.
Visitors from the mainland are often not knowledgeable about nature, so Hardgrove plans tours targeting both resident and visiting families to educate adults and children about the park's attributes.
In addition to the relevancy issue, Hardgrove said discussions at the conference emphasized setting the pace when it comes to alternative energy.
"We will be doing pilot projects as we have funds," he said.
This means installing solar power at the park's three Cruz Bay facilities. They are the visitors' center, the maintenance building and the Biosphere Reserve. The park's electric bill currently runs $50,000 a year, so using solar will mean a big savings, Hardgrove said.
While the park can lead the way, the local government will have to get involved for real change to take place on St. John, Hardgrove said. He cited a recent $300,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the Coral Bay Community Council to help fix the area's storm-water problems. Change can happen with citizen involvement, Hardgrove said.
He's bothered that when visitors ask him about where they can recycle their cans and bottles, he has to tell them nowhere, since St. John currently has no recycling program. Visitors tell them they've been recycling at home for decades.
"I don't know what to say to them," he said.
While St. John has lots of residents with the interest and ability to make recycling happen, it's another example where the local government must get involved, Hardgrove said.
"It all comes down to planning together," he said.
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