Related Resources • A Guide to Valley Forge National Historical Park • Valley Forge Photo Gallery

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Elsewhere on the Web • National Parks Conservation Association

The National Parks Conservation Association has released its 10 Most Endangered Parks list for 2002, covering a wide range of problems that affect parks across the nation. The National Park System includes 385 units throughout the United States, many of them jeopardized by serious threats both inside and outside their borders. The National Parks Conservation Association hopes to draw attention to the problems facing all of our parks by highlighting ten most in need of immediate attention.

Valley Forge National Historical Park near Philadelphia, has once again been named to the list. Here is the full text of the official press release:

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the nation's leading park advocacy organization, today named Pennsylvania's Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania to its fourth annual list of America's Ten Most Endangered National Parks.

"If George Washington were alive today, he'd stop at nothing to ensure that the needs of Valley Forge were met." said NPCA Senior Vice President Ronald Tipton. "Valley Forge represents the perseverance of the American spirit. If we allow unwise development and funding shortfalls to degrade Valley Forge, we dishonor the foundation of America's freedom. This should be one of America's best national parks, not a park under siege."

Inadequate funding plagues the park. Only the Visitor Center and Washington's headquarters are open to the public year-round. The National Park Service lacks staff to repair, open, monitor, and interpret almost all of the other structures dating from Washington's encampment. Only a small percentage of the park's thousands of museum artifacts is on display. Additional staff is needed to combat invasive plant species and monitor park vegetation, wildlife, and environmental quality. A financial analysis prepared in 2001 by NPCA and the Park Service found an annual operating shortfall of $2.2 million and a backlog of projects totaling more than $18 million (based on FY2000 funding levels and needs).

"Valley Forge is a poster child for a park under siege from suburban sprawl," Tipton said. A luxury-housing subdivision is proposed for 80 acres of privately owned land inside the park, awaiting only final township action. While helpful in seeking federal funding to protect privately owned land inside the park boundary, U.S. Representative Joe Hoeffel and Senator Arlen Specter introduced legislation in the 107th Congress to take 200 acres of Valley Forge parkland for a new veteran's cemetery, an unprecedented use of established parkland. The proposal is controversial even among veterans as an inappropriate use of parkland, especially given the lack of analysis of alternative sites outside park boundaries.

In the past decade, the park's neighboring counties have experienced extraordinary growth, with increasing commuter traffic around and through the park. Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation is leading a Valley Forge Area Transportation Planning Study to analyze effective solutions to relieve traffic impacts on the park. This study is notable in that protecting park natural and historical resources is being given comparable consideration with safety and other planning issues. Planning is progressing for a proposed commuter rail using existing rail lines through the park, where a key remaining concern is how to protect the historic landscape while meeting transportation needs. Finally, development upstream of the park along Valley Creek produces storm-water runoff that is eroding an archaeological site near Washington's Headquarters. "Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of Valley Forge," said Tipton.

Pennsylvania's first state park, Valley Forge was designated a National Historical Park in 1976. Today, Valley Forge National Historical Park commemorates the encampment of the Continental Army along the Schuylkill River in the winter of 1777-78, preserving the history of the American Revolution through 190 historic structures, more than 600 archaeological sites, and a significant collection of historic items.

Solution: 

To best preserve and protect the health and future of Valley Forge National Historical Park, Congress and the administration must increase the park's operating funds by $2.2 million annually to adequately meet current needs. The privately owned land inside the park boundary must be secured to protect park values via strategies including acquisition and easement. Finally, an appropriate agency must conduct a feasibility study to identify suitable potential sites for a veteran's cemetery.

What You Can Do:

Contact U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum as well as U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania and urge their support of increased operating funds, land acquisition funds, research on appropriate cemetery sites, and transportation plans that protect park resources.

The other parks named by NPCA are Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), Mojave National Preserve (California), South Florida's Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, Federal Hall National Memorial (New York), Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina), Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (Alaska), Glacier National Park (Montana), Ocmulgee National Monument (Georgia), and Big Bend National Park (Texas).