Five new National Monument Monuments beckon

If you're one of the many RVers who carry the "National Park Passport," a little booklet that allows you to 'stamp your passport' whenever you visit another National Park or National Monument, get ready to expand your pages.

Earlier this week, President Obama signed off on five new National Monuments, located across the country, that celebrate both natural resources, people, and significant events in the history of the country. "These sites honor the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country," said President Obama. "By designating these national monuments today, we will ensure they will continue to inspire and be enjoyed by generations of Americans to come."

Are any of these new treasures close to your trail?

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio. The monument will preserve the home of Col. Charles Young (1864–1922), a distinguished officer in the United States Army who was the third African American to graduate from West Point and the first to achieve the rank of Colonel. Young also served as one of the early Army superintendents of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, before the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916.  The national headquarters of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, of which Col. Young was a member, made the property available for acquisition by the federal government for the purpose of establishing the national monument commemorating Young’s life and accomplishments. The monument, located in Wilberforce, Ohio, will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service.

Courtesy wikipedia.org

First State National Monument in Delaware. The monument will tell the story of the early Dutch, Swedish, Finnish and English settlement of the colony of Delaware, as well as Delaware’s role as the first state to ratify the Constitution.  The park is comprised of three historic areas related to Delaware’s rich history:  the Dover Green, the New Castle Court House complex (including the courthouse, Green and Sheriff’s House), and the Woodlawn property in the Brandywine Valley.  The monument will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland. The monument commemorates the life of the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad who was responsible for helping enslaved people escape from bondage to freedom.  The new national park, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, includes large sections of landscapes that are significant to Tubman’s early life in Dorchester County and evocative of her life as a slave and conductor of the Underground Railroad.  The park includes Stewart’s Canal, dug by hand by free and enslaved people between 1810 and the 1830s and where Tubman learned important outdoor skills when she worked in the nearby timbering operations with her father. Lands that are part of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, although part of the new national monument, will continue to be managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument also includes the home site of Jacob Jackson, a free black man who used coded letters to help Tubman communicate with family and others.  The monument will also partner with the State of Maryland’s Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park Visitor Center when it opens in 2015.  The monument will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service.

Río Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico. Located northwest of Taos, the Río Grande del Norte contains stretches of the Río Grande Gorge and extinct volcanoes that rise from the Taos Plateau. The area is known for its spectacular landscapes and recreational opportunities – like rafting, fishing and hiking – and serves as important habitat for many birds and wildlife. The monument is also home to a dense collection of petroglyphs and extraordinary archaeological and cultural resources dating from the Archaic Period to the more recent passage of Hispanic settlers.  The monument will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, which currently manages the more than 240,000 acres of the monument.

San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington. Home to bald eagles, orca whales, harbor seals and other rare species, the San Juan Islands is a chain of 450 islands, rocks and pinnacles.  Located in Washington State’s Puget Sound, the archipelago provides an opportunity for visitors, campers, kayakers and birdwatchers to experience the natural beauty of the undeveloped, rugged landscape. A number of historic lighthouses are located on the islands, as well as cultural resources and fossils dating back 12,000 years. The monument will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

History hound? New National Historic Places make the list.

If you're a history loving RVer, here's thirteen new spots to add to your "must visit" list. The National Park Service has designated a baker's dozen new national historic landmarks including an Alabama bridge that was site of “Bloody Sunday” during the civil rights movement, a 400-year-old historic district showcasing the influence of Spanish culture in Puerto Rico, the home of author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a historic stadium used by Negro league baseball teams in 20th-century segregated America.

"From the Civil War to civil rights, to the struggles and accomplishments of women, African Americans and Latinos, these sites highlight the mosaic of our nation’s historic past," said National Parks Director Jonathan Jarvis. "We are proud to administer the National Historic Landmarks Program to educate and inspire Americans through their country’s rich and complex history."

National historic landmarks are nationally significant historic places that possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Currently there are 2,540 designated national historic landmarks. Here's the complete list of the new ones:

Camden Amphitheatre and Public Library, Camden, Maine. One of the few public projects of Fletcher Steele, one of America’s premier practitioners of 20th-century landscape design. It is an outstanding representation of the contributions made by the landscape architecture profession, private benefactors, and national associations to develop public landscapes in the United States that celebrated natural regional beauty, scenic character, and rich cultural history.

Camp Nelson Historic and Archeological District, Jessamine County, Ky. One of the nation's largest recruitment and training centers for African American soldiers during the American Civil War, Camp Nelson is also significant as the site of a large refugee camp for the wives and children of the soldiers who were escaping slavery and seeking freedom.

Casa Dra. Concha Meléndez Ramírez, San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was the residence and workspace of Dra. Concha Meléndez Ramírez, a prolific and prominent literary criticism voice in Generación del Treinta (Generation of 1930), a literary movement that shaped Puerto Rico’s 20th-century national cultural identity.

Library of Congress photo

Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Ala. On March 7, 1965, civil rights marchers drawing attention to the need for voting rights legislation were attacked by law enforcement officials as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The attack, which came to be known as "Bloody Sunday," contributed to the introduction and passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered to be the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by the US Congress.

The Epic of American Civilization Murals, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. These murals are the most important work in the United States by muralist José Clemente Orozco, one of Mexico’s foremost mural artists of the early 20th century. Orozco conceived the murals as a representation of a North American continent characterized by the duality of indigenous and European historical experiences. Though highly controversial in their day, the murals challenged traditional ways of thinking about the development of Aztec and Anglo-American civilizations in North America.

George T. Stagg Distillery, Franklin County, Ky. With resources dating from approximately 1880 to 1953, the George T. Stagg Distillery is a rare, intact example of an operating distillery before, during and after Prohibition. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to study at one site the evolution of buildings and technology associated with the American whiskey industry.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, Conn. Though best known to modern audiences for her antislavery work, Harriet Beecher Stowe was widely recognized in her lifetime as a highly prolific and nationally significant reformer for a wide variety of causes. Her longtime home in Hartford is associated with Stowe’s later career as a reformer on issues relating to the family and women's roles.

Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, N.J. Hinchliffe Stadium is an exceptional example of a Negro league baseball stadium in 20th-century segregated America. The stadium served as home field for teams such as the New York Black Yankees and the New York Cubans during a period when the institutionalized practice of "separate but equal" facilities was the accepted norm. Eleven current members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame played at Hinchliffe Stadium.

National Park Service

Honey Springs Battlefield, McIntosh and Muskogee Counties, Okla. By far the largest Civil War engagement of the 1861-1865 period of conflict within Indian Territory, the Battle of Honey Springs was the largest battle in Indian Territory in which Native Americans fought as members of both Union and Confederate armies. It is also significant as the first and largest engagement in which Indian troops of both sides fought in the formalized style of Anglo-American warfare.

Old San Juan Historic District/Distrito Histórico del Viejo San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is the only existing representation of an almost 400-year-old Spanish Colonial city in the United States, and contains the largest collection of buildings representing four centuries of Spanish culture, religion, politics, and architecture. It is the oldest city within the United States and its territories, and the district includes the oldest house, Christian church, executive mansion, convent, and military defenses in the country as well.

Pear Valley, Eastville, Va. Dating to 1740, the wood-frame house known as Pear Valley is an excellent, rare surviving example of the distinctive form of architecture that developed in the Chesapeake Bay region, illustrating how early settlers in the colonies adapted to their new environment.

Second Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Ill. The Second Presbyterian Church represents the visual and philosophical precepts of the turn of the century Arts and Crafts design movement.  Its interior, the masterwork of noted architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, presents some of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts mural painting, sculpture, stained glass and crafting in metals, fabrics, wood and plaster.

Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. One of the country’s oldest artists' retreats, Yaddo has hosted more than 6,000 influential writers, visual artists and composers who shaped and imprinted American culture with a distinct national identity in the 20th century. Among the notable artists who have worked at Yaddo are Aaron Copland, Truman Capote, Leonard Bernstein, Flannery O’Connor, Sylvia Plath and Langston Hughes.

Salazar also announced the acceptance of updated documentation and a boundary revision for the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, Pa.

Additional information on the designations can be found at www.nps.gov/history/nhl.

From coast to coast, national parks hit by budget bickering

With Congress deadlocked, the financial sequester is now under way. Wondering what effect the Washington-generated chaos will have on your favorite national park? Examiner.com released a story regarding preliminary impacts.

Blue Ridge Parkway will cut 21 seasonal interpretive ranger programs, resulting in the closure of 50 percent of its visitor centers and contact stations. Eliminating seven stations will put 80 miles between open facilities along the parkway, severely reducing the interpretive information available to visitors.

Gettysburg National Military Park will eliminate 20 percent of its Student Education Programs this spring, canceling field trips for 2,400 students.

Glacier National Park will delay the reopening of Going-to-the-Sun Road by two weeks. Previous closures of the road resulted in lost revenue for surrounding communities and concessions of $1 million per day, a potentially devastating blow to businesses that depend on the park for tourism dollars.

Mount Rainier National Park will close its Ohanapecosh Visitor Center permanently, eliminating this resource for 60,000-85,000 visitors annually.

Grand Canyon National Park will delay the seasonal opening of its East and West Rim Drives, and reduce hours of operation at the main visitor center – impacting a quarter of a million visitors.

Lassen Volcanic National Park in California will keep its main road and campgrounds closed for an additional two weeks this spring, and close the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center for two days each week. The Red Bluff Daily News reports that this will affect 1,100 schoolchildren who would normally visit the park during these weeks, and the park will lose about $156,000 in revenue.

Shenandoah National Park has delayed the opening of campgrounds, picnic areas, and visitor centers, as well as the hiring of seasonal employees.

For the entire story, visit examiner.com