Washington Monument prepares for reopening

Do you know your Washington Monument statistics? At 555 feet, five and one-eighth inches tall, it's the world's tallest stone structure, and the world's tallest obelisk. Unless you're a space-alien, it's doubtful you were around when construction took off in 1848, when granite, marble, and bluestone gneiss all formed this remarkable attraction at the end of the reflecting pool, smack in the middle of Washington, D.C.

National Park Service

You probably were around on August 23, 2011. That's when the Virginia Earthquake rolled through town, shaking the foundations of government (almost as much as a congressional stalemate) and causing no small amount of damage to the monument. Chunks of stone, mortar, and chips rained down through the monument's interior. A block in the building's pyramidion (capstone) tried to shake loose, and National Park Service officials quickly shut down operations around the big obelisk.

National Park Service

A little over a month later a National Park ranger led a team of climbers to do a thorough outside inspection of the monument. Kind of handy, having an expert climber in your agency, huh? Must have had some particularly good views of the seat of national government from up there, but I'm sure their minds were elsewhere. In the end, the Service determined that while the monument wasn't in any danger of collapse, extensive repairs would be needed. Up went a complex scaffold system like some kind of surrealistic ball gown, fit for an actress with limited modesty.

But all that scaffolding is coming down. The Park Service says the monument will reopen after a 32-month closure. The big reopen day is May 12, when the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall will host a re-opening ceremony at 10 a.m.

Ron Cogswell on flickr.com

Public tours of the Monument on the day of the reopening, May 12, will begin at 1:00 p.m. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8:30 a.m. that day at the Washington Monument Lodge, located on 15th Street between Madison and Jefferson Drives. Tickets for tours on May 13 and all future dates will be available on the NPS reservation page, www.recreation.gov, starting on April 16, at 10 a.m.

“We are delighted to be in the homestretch with the repairs to the Washington Monument almost complete, and we look forward to the re-opening on May 12 so we can once again welcome visitors to this iconic monument to our nation’s first President,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are grateful for David Rubenstein’s generous donation that funded half of the $15 million repair bill. David’s support of the national parks and the work of the National Park Service sets a high standard for park philanthropy nationwide and is appreciated by every visitor who will learn something about President Washington or simply enjoy the view from the top.”

Visit Horseshoe Bend National Military Park during the bicentennial commemoration of the Creek War

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama
a National Park Service Monthly Getaway

By Doyle Sapp, Superintendent, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park

Nature provided a landscape-sized protection in the shape of a sharp horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa River to the people of several Upper Creek towns of present-day Alabama. These Creek people, also known as Red Sticks, chose this site, surrounded by water on three sides, to establish the village of Tohopeka in the waning days of 1813 as a safe haven during the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the War of 1812.

On March 27, 1814, the natural defense that the Tallapoosa provided was pitted against the technology of muskets and cannons. An army led by Major General Andrew Jackson of approximately 4,000 Americans, allied Creek and Cherokee arrived at the bend to attack the Red Stick encampment. The fighting raged for hours, but ended ultimately in a decisive American victory which made a national hero of Andrew Jackson.

(Photo: NPS.gov)

This struggle marked the end of the Creek War. Within six months, the Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed and the Creek Nation ceded 23 million acres to the United States government. These lands were divided into the new state of Alabama and the existing state of Georgia. 

Today, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is a quiet 2,400-acre sanctuary, belying the chaos of the Creek War and the War of 1812. Starting in March 2014, the park commemorates the bicentennial of the battle.

The beautiful natural landscape of central Alabama offers many scenic vistas to explore on your visit. A 3-mile driving tour visits important battle sites, with stops at the spot where the Creek erected the protective log barricade in the early days of 1814 and the site of the Tohopeka village. Not to be missed is the 2.8-mile nature trail snaking through the dense hardwood and pine forest. Along the trail you’ll find a dramatic view overlooking the battlefield and the high ground overlooking the site of Tohopeka, the refuge village of the Red Sticks. 

The park will host a wide variety of interpretive events throughout March 2014, including a symposium in partnership with Auburn University, living history encampments, and Creek and Cherokee cultural demonstrations. Throughout the year, park volunteers demonstrate life at war and at peace through living history musters. Read more. 

Study shows parks' values in real dollar amounts

Just how much are America's national parks worth? The value of recreational and scenic opportunities is obviously "priceless," but a new study indicates just how much they mean to the economy.

An economic study by the National Park Service shows the parks have plenty of value in the overall "economic engine." Parks are behind 243,000 jobs, and crank out $26.75 billion in economic activity.

"National parks like Yellowstone and Gettysburg are places of unimaginable beauty and powerful history that help tell America’s story while connecting us with nature," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “At the same time, our national parks help propel our nation’s economy, drawing hundreds of millions of visitors every year who are the lifeblood of the hotels, restaurants, outfitters, and other local businesses that depend on a vibrant and reliable tourism and outdoor recreation industry supported by our public lands.”

“In 2012, the National Park Service welcomed more than 280 million visitors to their national parks. For nearly 100 years we have helped people discover places to explore, learn from and enjoy,” said Park Service Director, Johnathan Jarvis. “These places of history, culture and natural wonder offer unparalleled experiences and return $10 for every $1 American taxpayers invest in the National Park Service. That’s a successful formula we can all embrace as we prepare for the next 100 years of the National Park Service.”

More than 200,000 of the jobs supported by national parks in 2012 were in local neighboring communities. These range from big parks like the Grand Canyon, which attracted 4.4 million visitors and supported 6,000 jobs, to smaller parks like the Lincoln Boyhood Home, which had 133,000 visitors and supported 93 jobs in local communities.

This 2012 analysis is a revision from previous reports. Many of the hallmarks of the past model are preserved, but the new model makes significant strides in accuracy and transparency of the analysis. Key changes include new software, updated assumptions about the nation’s economy based on 400 different characteristics, and new estimates of spending and visitor trip characteristics.

The figures in the report are based on spending by nearly 283 million visitors in communities near national parks in 2012. An in-depth analysis of the 2012 figures found an increase in local visitor spending and a correlating increase in economic activity and jobs in local communities.

Jewell and Jarvis today also announced estimates of the government shutdown’s impacts on national park gateway economies. Overall, the16-day shutdown resulted in 7.88 million fewer national park visitors in October 2013 compared to a three-year average (October 2010-12), and an estimated loss of $414 million in visitor spending in gateway and local communities across the country when comparing October 2013 to a three-year average (October 2010-12). These losses are part of an economic analysis of the shutdown’s effects on parks and neighboring communities that was released today.  While the shutdown figures do not affect the 2012 economics report, they will weigh on the 2013 economics report due out later this year. 

The annual economic report, with information by park and by state on visitor spending, jobs and other impacts, and the shutdown report, are available online at: http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm

According to the 2012 economic analysis, most visitor spending supports jobs in restaurants, grocery and convenience stores (39 percent), hotels, motels and B&Bs (27 percent), and other amusement and recreation (20 percent).

For more state-by-state information about national parks and how the National Park Service is working with communities go to www.nps.gov/[statename], for example: ttp://www.nps.gov/virginia.

Source: National Park Service and rvtravel.com