And let me just leave you my definition of leadership as i think about stewart udall. Leadership demonstrates an unwavering philosophical underpinning of service to others. Anchored in humility, courage, humanity, and gratitude. And if you were to take a look at those whom we have honored as a people in your National Park system, theres a lesson there. There are those who have given of themselves, who have given of themselves, that in the end as the people of the nation, those are whom we honor most of all. Its interesting. Just take a look at those individuals by name. Those have been of service to others. That is the american legacy. To honor those who have given to others. Lastly, before we open it up to questions, on this centennial. Yes, august 25th is a big day. And i know you historians like to traffic in facts. So contrary to popular belief, i was not there for the signing of that act in 1916. Ive been around a long time but not that long. With respect to the centennial and the next park service has posted a number of activities on its website, and connecting with all america to their National Parks is one of the main goals. The other is surely to accent the importance of the engagement of our young people. Theres nothing more important than those of us in position or have been in position of responsibility than to connect our young people. Obviously, the preservation of the national and Cultural Heritage at the Higher Standards and certainly to engage scholarly organizations such as the organization of american historians and others, in developing presentation for education, Interpretive Programming is a must. The park service should be the truth bearer in any interpretive or educational program, and without the scholarship that cannot be done. And scholarship is only one half of it. Its also the park service has to have the courage to tell the truth when you visit a National Park. May it be with the Natural Resources or with the cultural. Again, on behalf of those who have been beneficiary of the work on behalf of these ladies and gentlemen and the organization it enriches all our experiences as we tour the parks to become better citizens. I want to make a couple of remarks, and were going to open this up to all of you out there shortly. The National Park service is sometimes described as the Worlds Largest classroom, outdoor classroom usually. But its not just where an awful lot of americans learned something about history that they didnt learn in school. But if youve been to the liberty bell or Independence Hall in philadelphia or if youve been to yosemite or canyon lands, you know that there are several million visitors from abroad who get their first lesson in American History from their National Park service experience. True. Think of the weight of that on the rangers. Thats right. But it does create impressions. And they come with very little knowledge of American History. They come with open minds. So theyre empty vessels for the most part into which park rangers are pouring something. And its a great weight of responsibility to try and get history right as possible, balanced as possible. And one other thing. In the recommendations of the Second Century Commission and the o. A. H. Promise, one of the things everyone notices is the park rangers are not a diverse lot. They do not look like the American People. And its always been a problem to attract people like bob stanton into the park service and even attract africanamericans on vacation to the parks. Or latino americans. Or asian americans. One day the commission on the second century sat on the beach in the Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge where about 100 kids came to the beach. They were from san jose and oakland. And it was the first time theyd seen the ocean. They were there for three days and three nights for a camping experience to march through the headlands, to learn about marine biology, to learn about the park service. The questionnaires from the students typically said i was bored after day one, i was excited after day two, and after day three i wasnt going home. Its that kind of experience. And the park service, one of the recommendations of both commissions was to try to muscle up the Junior Ranger Program and the youth corps in a way because it creates experiences that come through the san jose and oakland kids who first come to the baenks recruiting them into the parks and introducing them to the big world, Natural World out there. So it goes on and on. Its limitless what the park service has to offer. And theyre all trying to do it on a budget thats just not adequate. Id be curious to hear bob talk a little bit, and id actually invite people in the audience to share thoughts about this one as well, that its very, very clear that if in fact the parks are partly classrooms and classrooms for young people to learn about the nation or learn again to invoke that complicated word citizenship, visitation to the parks is down in some areas. And one thing im very conscious of is that over the last 30 years, really since the deregulation of the Airline Industry in the 1970s and the fall of Airline Ticket prices that happened as a result of that deregulation, many, many, many more families now fly to the destinations of their vacations if they vacation in that way than used to drive. And there are a great many nps units that were visited primarily by families looking for way stations on their way to yellowstone, their way to yosemite, their way to the end point destination who now fly to a ski resort or to a major metropolitan area to one of the big parks and who no longer see all of the things that are along the way. So the road trip as a family phenomenon that helped define middleclass baby boomers has not vanished but significantly diminished in the experience of american childhood. And we also have of course a whole group of inner city kids who have no way of accessing those big western parks. The big yellowstonetype places at all. And then to add a third element to the ways in which the experience of childhood is altering the experience of the parks, there are of course these things. And the video games and all the ways in which Virtual Reality is now far more vivid, far more seductive, far more allencompassing and engaging than those long boring trips to get to these cold wet places where you sit around and wait to turn on your phone. So the challenge of how do you engage a generation that is now having such a mediated experience of the world is something that the park service is not alone in facing. But its a really important challenge. So my broad question to you, bob, and again, id invite when we turn to q a reflections from the audience about this one, is what do the parks look like in the 21st century, especially for young people . Especially for young people from families that do not have historical experience of visiting parks as part of their family culture. Huh do the National Parks and other parks as well remain relevant to American Children whose experience of childhood is radically different than it was 50 years ago. You alluded to a number of possible causes in terms of the level of visitation. I am pleased to note, however, that as more areas come into the park system that reflect the richness and the diversity of our people and of our nation thats beginning to get more attention. I do see a larger number of asian americans, american indians, latinos and africanamericans visiting parks as it relates to their individual history. But if you were to take a look at some of the larger destination parks, if you will, you do not find a i substantial increase in visitation. And i dont think theres any substitute for a personal visit, notwithstanding that one can reap a lot of information via the internet and social media and what have you. And what has taken place now is a number of nonprofit as well as forprofit organizations underwriting Youth Experiences in National Parks. Ive been at grand teton National Park twice this year for two major Youth Programs underwritten by organizations that want to give the young people an indepth orientation to the parks in grand teton. Grand tetons a good park to start with. So thats beginning to take place. One of the things that i really want to evaluate and havent dealt with it extensively, bill mentioned the family trips. And i remember interacting with a lot of my colleagues that used to take additional trips with their family in the station wagon. And vacationing for me was a very foreign thing. I was either in the corn fields or cotton field or what have you during the summer months. So we didnt have vacations. But the other thing is that im not quite sure we have psychologically overcome some barriers in terms of additional vacations because when i worked at the station in grand teton there are families who have been coming in and out of teton and yellowstone for decades and their kids and their grandkids come. That was not true, particularly in the africanamerican community. How would i dare get in my car in fort worth and drive to yellowstone before 1964 . I would have to worry about where am i going to sleep, where am i going to eat . I was refused service in jackson, wyoming in 62, 63 because they were not compelled to open their doors under the doctrine of separate but equal. And they could do that legally. So there has not been a tradition of traveling because you were not accommodated in places. And thats beginning to break down now. Theres a little more comfortable avocation by families to travel. These places are open to you. But it wasnt until 1945 that if i were to have gone into shenandoah there would have been a campground for colors and a campground for white. Talk about courage again. Harold ickes, Franklin Delano roosevelt, secretary of the interior issued a secretary order in 1945 saying that all facilities in the National Parks, whether youre in the deep south or not, will be open and available to all. Can you just imagine with the surrounding community, you mean youre going to let those black folks go in there, eat beside of me, sleep beside of me in the park and they cant do that outside of the park . So if in 1945 i was exiting at that time, my parents wouldnt dare take me to that kind of circumstance. Why would they . We have inflicted some wounds on ourselves. They began to heal. So to the extent we can make our young people aware of the richness and say that you will be accepted in the neighboring communities and in the parks that would go a long way because they cannot get experiences from their grandparents. They dont have a frame of reference. They did not express themselves. These are facts, ladies and gentlemen. We dont talk about it a lot, but these are facts. We still have quite a bit to overcome. All right. Its your turn. Please, we have microphones at the front of both aisles. Step right up and please give us your name and your institution. And stand and deliver. Im linda izerman, an educational historian at Wheaton College just up the road here. My very first job out of college was with the National Park service. I was an editor for the National Register of historic places. Excellent. So im very aware of what youre saying, that not everything in the park service is yosemite. Thats right. Or grand teton. And when i think about your question about how to bring younger people into the parks i do think the schools have a big role to play. Ive always lived in cities, and i know those rangers in the brown shirts. My question for you, though, from a practitioner point of view, director stanton, but also from scholars is about financing. Over time youve just been incredibly passionate about some of the ways in which we opened the parks and not. But over time what has been successful with congress, what arguments have worked, when have we said lets expand the park service, lets give more money, so its either over time or it might be over the type of parks were trying to open and create. So from your own experience or for bill and gary, what have we found has been successful at opening up congressional appropriations . Next question. [ laughter ] i appreciate that very much and appreciate your work with the national registry. The folks in that office had developed what they call teaching with historic places. Lesson plans that teachers can use in the classroom that speaks to the richness of some of these areas. That question and that debate about how we as a People Finance a fund, programs, operations, development of the park in a Sustainable Way because its a given from my perspective that the American People will continue to add parks, heritage areas, longdistance trails and what have you, as a part of the portfolio of the park service. And funding has not kept pace with that major, major responsibility. I would Salute Congress in this sense, that they have given some new authorities to the park service in terms of revenues. In addition to the direct appropriation, which takes place on an annual basis. All fees, recreational fees, campground fees, entrance fees, every last penny is authority by congress for the National Park service to keep. That generates probably between 150, 180 million. Concessions operating on a permit or contract with the National Park service, and some are major operations such as the hotels in yosemite or on the south rim of grand canyon. They are obligated to pay a fee, a percentage of their gross, to the National Park service. The park service by law now is authorized to keep all Franchise Fees paid by the concessioners. Many, many years ago if you were to see a movie, for instance, spencers mountain was filmed in the teton valley with henry fonda and Maureen Ohara when i was there. The only choice who hollywood, in this case warner brothers, was to give credit, that the film was filmed in grand teton. And that was a practice adopted many years ago to promote the parks. Now through some evaluative process when hollywood comes in or any other Motion Picture producer comes in to the park and big benefit of the scenery or what have you, they have to pay a fee. The fee is retained by the National Park service. But even with those new authorities and the direct appropriation, there isnt that much money. I mean there isnt enough money. Then in 1997 the Park Congress established the National Park foundation, which is the philanthropic corporate arm, if you will, of the park service to raise money and in Kind Services from corporate america. Theyre doing a bangup job. And the American People, very generous, make donations. Over 200,000 volunteer their services. Philanthropy has been one of the mainstays. People donating lands, buildings. Automobiles. But the park service would be authorized to accept donations id be standing outside the door at the end of the session. But i appreciate that question. The thing thats interesting is when ive got a little tally from the legislative office two or three weeks ago. I think on the average starting with president clinton up to this time when president obama said president bush, president obama i think over that span of time. 24 years. I guess between six to seven new parks per year have been added. Or heritage areas. But when a park is authorized and is placed on the direct supervision of the park service, unless its written in the operational law of the appropriation it doesnt come with new money. Each new park has to compete with the yellowstone and the yosemites and the Roger Williams providence, or the john haffey heritage area here in rhode island. So i know where i am. I hope you visit these parks while youre in rhode island. We just need more money. What i would add to that, because i think its a really complicated question, important question, is the history of partisan politics in the United States over the last 30 or 40 years has really changed the fiscal challenge not just actually of the National Park service but of all the land Holding Agencies of the United States government, that actually the park service does better relative to congress than any of the other land agencies which of course include fish and wildlife, blm, and usda, the forest service, as well as dont forget the d. O. D. Owns quite a lot of land as well. But we dont usually count that as one of the landholding departments of the United States government. You know, there was up until the early 1970s a pretty strong bipartisan consensus between the democratic and the republican parties about this kind of work and the park service more than most of the other agencies retains some of that support so when the government shuts down in a battle between the white house and congress over a budget bill, probably the pain at the National Park s