National Parks Commission Visits Malibu

• Distinguished Panel Kicks Off Project in SMMNRA

BY ANNE SOBLE

A year-long, blue ribbon commission put together to recommend policies for the National Park System in its second century held the first of five nationwide meetings this week, with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area taking center stage.
The group called the National Parks Second Century Commission is headed by former U.S. Senators J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. (D-La) and Howard Baker (R-TN). Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is also listed as a co-chair.
NPSSC’s formation was announced three weeks ago, and the local two-day meeting convened without fanfare Monday in a Westlake hotel.
The first day’s session featured bus trips to public park sites in the Malibu area, including Solstice Canyon. Even though Solstice is still recovering from last year’s devastating wildfire, it put on a show of its natural beauty on a picture-perfect day, providing many of the first-time visitors with a vivid picture of the site’s uniqueness.
Senator Johnston, who was among those visiting Solstice Monday afternoon, said of the NPSSC’s formation, “Never before has a group of this caliber, independent and non-partisan, convened to conduct a comprehensive examination of the state of the national parks today, and their potential for the future. ”
The commission’s efforts are expected to result in a formal report late next year. National Park system supporters hope it will provide impetus to alter the pattern of deep budget cuts that have beset most government agencies in recent years.
The NPSSC’s roster includes a distinguished cross-section of judges, state and national legislators, academics in an array of disciplines from institutions ranging from Brooklyn College to UCLA, and representatives of public and private recreation groups and related interests.
Subsequent meetings of the NPSSC will be held at Yellowstone National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Lowell National Historical Park and Gettysburg National Military Park.
SMMNRA Superintendent Woody Smeck said, “The selection of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area as the initial meeting location underscores the strategic importance of urban national parks. It also recognizes the model programs of NPS, California State Parks, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and others in preserving resources and connecting urban and suburban audiences to nature and places of historical significance.”
Smeck had previously announced that “during the meeting, we will have an opportunity to provide commissioners with a brief tour of the mountains and discuss challenges and opportunities for managing parks in a complex urban-wildland interface. A panel of distinguished conservationists and park advocates will also share their views.”
Among those who spoke at the two-day session were Joseph Edmiston, the executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and Robert Garcia, the executive director of the City Project, an outspoken critic of the City of Malibu’s refusal to agree to overnight camping on parklands in the city, a dispute that is expected to reignite soon before the California Coastal Commission.
No one from local governments that border, or are encompassed by the SMMNRA, took part in the program that also included: Jon Jarvis, National Park Service regional director of the Pacific West Region; Linda Dishman, the executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy; and Paul Saffo, the director of the Institute for the Future, Media-X Research Network at Stanford University.