National Parks on the Air

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio™) has teamed up with the National Park System (NPS) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NPS.

The local Ham club, Highland Lakes Amateur Radio Club, "activated" the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in March on two different weekends, giving operators a chance to talk to President Johnson's "Western White House" as it was known. Gil mentioned that there were 483 NPS units eligible to be activated by Hams. "Activation" means that a ham radio operator is communicating from an NPS unit. So far, Gil has "worked" (i.e. communicated with) 34 units across the U.S.A.

 

In the photo at left, Evan Roberts is seen at the LBJ Park operating by Morse code -- a skill still used even in today's electronic world.  

 

The original notion of a "national park" is credited to George Catlin (1796-1872), a self-taught artist who worried about the westward expansion and the effect on Indian civilization, wildlife and wilderness. (Smith, n.d.)  

 

Yosemite, now a national park was originally a California state park, having been given to the state by Congress in 1864. In 1872 Congress estatablished Yellowstone National Park in the territories of Montana and Wyoming. That began a worldwide national park movement where today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves. ("History (U.S. National Park Service)," n.d.). Our NPS includes 20 categories including battlefields, military parks, historical parks, national lakeshores, national recreation areas and more. But it was until 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation that the National Park System was officially created.

 

Of the parks Gil (given name "Guilford") contacted, the one most significant to him was the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in North Carolina as his name came via an ancestor's participation in the Battle of the Guilford Courthouse, March 15, 1781. 

General Nathaniel Greene met the British General Cornwallis head-to-head there and so decimated their forces and supplies that the Brits fled to New York, but rather than resupplying, they wound up surrendering because the French Armada had cut off the British supply ships. Thus, the Guilford Courthouse battle can be said to have led to the end of the Revolutionary War although technically we lost the battle. 

 

This flag is the "Guilford Courthouse" flag of which Gil has a replica hanging in his mediation office.

 

Gil's message about the National Park System was that it is a wonderful system with great beauty and history, and ought to be seen and supported.

 

Gil spoke briefly also on how he came to be Justice of the Peace for Burnet County Precinct 4 upon the early retirement of Judge Ed Cutchin. He explained how the County Commissioners and Judge were looking for someone to appoint who was not going to run for the position, and who was dumb enough not to say "no."  He figures his name came up unanimously.  

 

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/guco/index.htm

History (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/history.htm

NPOTA. (2016). Retrieved April 5, 2016, from http://www.arrl.org/NPOTA

Smith, D. (n.d.). National Parks - A Brief History. Retrieved April 5, 2016, from http://usparks.about.com/library/weekly/aa012598.htm