doing some of that within some of the monument structures and other areas that you can look at this. i'm really interested in where that's going. i know the national malted something when it created it. we were developing the same thing. many of the stops and we actually had two pokémon gems. my kid plays i do it for him. we are developing a two or and a lot of them are actually set up as the second independent hall itself. were trying to develop a two or wherever to go catch some pokémon but stop look up let's talk about what were in front of.

i note between the mall and as i'm sure other parks are doing it also. one thing that is acceptable about the mobile technology. now there's one of these in almost everyone's pocket and not just rich people but everybody's pocket it's one of the technologies that's being embraced by all economic levels. it gets you out from behind your computer screen and helps you connect with the rest of the world. we are actually seen the embracing of the mobile technology as a is a wonderful way of engaging people and getting them excited not just about catching the pokémon's exploring and expanding their horizons. this is gonna be a really interesting tool for park tours. in light of that also i wanted to emphasize that one of the things we think is so

important with the young people especially as a put them in the water. the kids not the iphones. let them search for rusty crayfish. put them on a forest trail put them in canoes. we had kids paddling on the water. besides the wonderful technology it opens all sorts of arenas for them. were trying to put them into the experience that they would have never done on their own. whatever works to be engaged in ways that we never could imagine they would. >> my name is denise and i just recently retired from the parks service after 38 years i am so fortunate i was in

philadelphia and washington and a wound up at that beautiful national park. i did not expect this the state to be so emotional. my passion is making the workforce more diverse and that's what i spent most of my career on. just an observation not necessarily a question when i looked at the urban blazers in philadelphia at my hometown i was very emotional about that. i would like to see the panel take this information i think we need to find the disconnect on finding at this towards employment even if we could just get one of those kids out of a hundred into the national park system. it's not easy. you need that one on one interaction and someone to

really take it to the next level. that is just my passion if you will and i hope you can take that back. >> i will ask carol to speak to that one. her job is relevance and diversity. also one of my passions and think you for all of your service with the national park service as we begin to look at our next 100 years the stories that we tell in the places that we protect our critical that we as citizens of the united states begin to see them as ours and ours being collective in all of the diversity that makes us a nation. and in that diversity in the ranger as well as other professional ranks is

critical. i just heard our director say that he is putting people at the center is to also work on probably more important is to work on inclusion into build a place of inclusion were people feel valued and feel like there voices being heard. not only will we be looking at touching the lives of diverse america and inviting them into the employment of the national park service but making them feel like they are a part of something that they want to be sitting here 30 years from now talking about who they are and who their people are and the stories that make us a great nation. so thank you very much.

>> thank you to the panel thank you for all of the curating they did for today the last question really sparked me to get up. and maybe answer question number three so i am reggie chappell. i'm actually with the national park service. i have only been here click four years so to work on this and come in from the outside the idea of getting it into the park service through this idea programs that has not been my experience at all. a little bit about my journey. i was in graduate school the only one that i was interested in was this historic building

along the central avenue in los angeles. it was the first black hotel that was built where all of the players stayed and the only place that they could also stay when they came off of the railroad after work. and so for me it became the place to actually build out my dream i think that there are other tracks that they can actually take it's not just taking a kid to a park and then having them maybe think about a career but there are folks who are actually active in universities who are interested in careers but not necessarily in knowing about the national park service as an option. so i'm wondering and then the building i was affiliated with was on the national resident register of historic places. i became more interested. and then when i got a chance i'm here now.

are there other programs within universities where there are actually right there waiting is connecting people to parks in the park program. that's my question. thanks for asking that question. we have some folks here in the front row who run some absolutely wonderful programs and bringing college students and grad students into the national park service through cultural resource programming and it's a great opportunity for phd students and others seeking masters degrees to do their practical work within the national park service and begin to be exposed to that. i would challenge us to reach even deeper into the

university and begin to work closer with them to diversify even the student population of which we are seen applied for this type of job. our employment program is another opportunity but i would also challenge as as supervisors and managers in national parks to be more active and proactive in our communities and letting folks know that these opportunities do exist so that they can be seasonal ranger and then experience the parks and hopefully become a career dedicated employee of the national park service. we have to reach out into the community's and say these jobs are viable there places where we want your voice this is what we want to represent our

nation's and the diverse stories. and be inclusive not just in the workplace itself but also in how we announce our jobs and i will speak just a moment to the national park service national park service and people who are watching and who are here today and as supervisors we have a critical role to going beyond hitting the submit button and doing all of our work before we do that making sure that people understand that we had places for all of america. thank you for bringing that to our it to our attention and challenging folks out there. we enter into that. it does not recruit it announces our jobs for us. it is up to us to do the hard work of doing into the

communities. >> i like the way this conversation is going. they made a great point just now about the really critical role of supervisors but i would also include that to be other employees. i came in 2010 as an intern and a partner and then a couple of appointments later most recently i was a youth conservation lead. and my journey it's a little

bit different. it was opening on september 24. i can't state enough how critical it is for people to affirm folks to be exactly who they are so i am a historian of black power. i'm a southerner and i bring all of the because i worked with julia with a lot of people who affirmed me and being who i am at that time like fully and completely when we get to the grand canyon national park is a little tense right now if you pay attention in the news in addition to that i was the only black park ranger.

then that's it. and how many people work at the grand canyon. there's probably 70 people. overall the rest of the diversity came in the maintenance. it was one of the most diverse experience but i mentioned does youth interns. is an organization that serves primarily african-american youth. when blackman got murdered by the police we were in the wilderness away from our communities where we might be protesting. there is no cell phone reception.

i drove to mexico. because i had been affirmed in my identity already and taught very well in how the park service works. where the park it became a place of healing. and when i found that blessed the wonderful rangers we don't know what to say. what can you say when a man is murdered in front of his child. he was a father of the child the same age. i was angry to what can you say at this love-hate relationship with our agency. i think going back to the point that's why it's really critical there is nobody else but me that could of have the conversation that we head in that way.

it became our place of healing for staff as well as their first experience and they were feeling isolated and like they couldn't talk about these things and instead we made the park a place of healing. thank you guys for your healing and your support and please keep up the good work. >> thank you for your good work. amazing story from an amazing woman. we really appreciate the work that you do. congratulations on your new job. i think one thing they bring up as a love hate relationship with the organization. i will be very honest. i also have a love-hate relationship with it i see it today as a turning point is an opportunity carol mentioned the directors talking about

that. i think we can if we seize this moment and this opportunity and we say we want a diverse justice seeking national park service then we will make it that. i am excited about that. so, we have someone at this microphone please identify it yourself. >> i will open my mouth and show you how stupid i am. that's what my used it -- houston -- has been used to say. i started at 10:00 and i was still 15 minutes late. i may have missed something my expectation of coming here was 100 years ago was that james

monroe who started this i wanted to spread it to my friends. and the other thing as i really liked to see them in new york. and yellowstone. i have not smelled it. do you organize that.

how do you help people to see the parks quacks. >> that is a great question. it is fun that you summarized that we are recruiting the young people and bringing them in buses to the parks but what are we doing with the other visitors and senior adults. i think it opens up more opportunity for us to network and brainstorm and think about what we might do. and more people's participation. thank you for the challenge. in my experience i have seen a lot of to her groups that have all sorts of advertised field trips by bus and take people into short trips and long trips all around the national park circuit. that is one good option to consider.

i also think it's a great idea to join any sort of community our civic organization i know we've had several. it is people facing the senior year. they're looking for things to do. i think that might be an option to check into that. and then from one contact to another you might find some long distance trips that are available. to think about ways that we can get you on the bus besides the young kids and bring you to our parks. thank you for bringing that up. we will have to ask more people more questions and see what we can offer. >> a society that's aging. we need to be thinking about all of those pieces of our experience in just a into your

question i can't see where you went. he signed the organic act and you can see that legislation. that he signed. we invite you to do that. i see that we have a person at the microphone. please identify yourself. i work in the centennial office this year. i wanted to speak a little bit to your question about how we are bringing a people into the parks. one of the great things i would love to highlight we have really reached out with a lot of our corporate partners to help create further opportunities to bring people there.

i just want to say a huge thank you to the national park foundation. in particular i have to give a nice shout out to humana. they did a great program we brought seniors into the park. it was for anybody who is age 62 and older. the actually purchased thousands of passes and also did some work with us. in helping to bring people actively to the sites. it really went all over the nation. it was kind of an expanding of that park. i think you hurt a little bit about it. i think everyone deserves to be in the national parks is something to think about partnering with those who have never worked with before we

can do a lot together when we put our hands together. and really make these opportunities having i hope that starts to reach further and further. we want to bring healthy parks to people. it really could be for everyone. >> i think you might be doing that. i do want to take a moment to mention that the passes that are available. we also had an every kid in the park pass. they get a whole year. it's an access pass. so you can if you provide evidence of your disability through the mail to us you can have a lifetime free pass to

the national parks so there are many ways of getting in the past. there are a couple more passes. there is also active military. they can also purchase it for $80. and to get access into national parks. i just wanted to remind all of us in the park service we have a huge history. we might not be so proud of. that would bring people to

national parks and the awareness. now at 100 years we think about how we can go out into the community and we also think about the mobile devices and the abilities that we have digitally but we cannot lose sight of this and what it is is it like to smell a national park. thank you for reminding us of that. my name is vicki schwartz. we had been visiting national parks since the 60s. we feel like we get a mixed message. i remember when it was so crowded.

i got a small national parks. and i don't understand the message could you clear that up for me please. >> we can try. >> i think there's a balance and as stewards of these places the national park service needs to carefully look at that balance as we invite people to the places of their heritage. and in that some of our large western national parks deface to face some of the impacts that compromise that conservation and we need to balance that. i don't know what the future brings in that i think the

message should be clear and should be very concise that it invites all people to come and experience their heritage and experience our nation through the stories and places but that you also need to be careful in that balance and it's incumbent upon us as an agency and the professionals that work within that not just the human dimension but also the balance and ecosystems in the historic structures that we are charged with preserving and protecting as well. i'm sorry you have a mixed message. everyone is welcome. as we go through time we may start seen scene that we have to put some measures and placed to balance that so that we can preserve and protect these places for future generations. >> i would like to add to that there are 413 i believe i

think we just got the north woods of maine. there are parks in all 50 states and mainly when we hear the overcrowding comments it's about yellowstone and the grand canyon. the big western. and then only overcrowded in the front country i mean not the back trails and not the distant parts of the wilderness that they also protect just the areas around their visitor centers they are mainly only only overcrowded during the summer. if you time your visit properly to those large places i think that we do have to balance. with the youth and enjoyment

preservation. i don't think anything else at the microphone. here comes one more. please identify yourself. i also work in the partnership office. i love some of the things that we heard today because as we go back into that partnership office gives us a way to think about how to do some more things and more partnership and funding. you spoke to that. but even just thinking about this conversation we have now is really we need to do a little bit more with dealing with youth groups we are bringing into wherever it is.

there are things like the canoe mobile and also ways of getting people who had different abilities in. i did get my card. we have other ideas and things things to those of you who spoke. we can go back and make some really fun connections. it's inspiring as in it quacks. >> i think i'm it's good to pass it over to carol again on the elders and young people coming together again just putting our toe in the water we want to speak just for a second on that. the national park service sponsors youth from native americans this is a second summer the second summer of doing this program.

and there are many stories that i could tell you about the youth that hear about the stories of their past on the reservations and in the community of which they've grown up. they have never left those places to actually experience where the stories took place in last summer i was fortunate to be able to go on one of these were some of them were able to go with their elders to little bighorn into stand on the battlefield and to be able to see the prices where their ancestors fought for who they were who fought for a way of life who fought their people and it was tremendous. the healing that takes place in the recognition and one of

the things that i see in these young people as they begin to see in the places and hear the stories from their elders. the same ones they've heard from the elders at home it is so critical as we start looking at healing and it is just a powerful thing to see a sense of pride of those young people who stood there and understood they were maybe for the first time an incredible opportunity for me to see that happening all over the country where we are bringing native youth into their elders to the places of their history. >> we need to draw the program to a close. i'm going to invite each of the panelists to give us some parting thoughts about moving

from conservation to conversation into the next 100 years. and i will start here with wayne. like i said in my intro. in the video it saved another veterans life. i am not exclusive in the park service. there are veterans in the park service now. young and old that need help they may come off as frustrated. let him work it out. for someone that needs help. maybe it might not think how was that good help of veteran heel. you'd be very surprised. we also love our symbols that

something that we dissented. don't blow them off. help them and point them in a direction. something that gets them out there and opens up. it's hard for me to tell my story but over the years and has gotten easier. i said in an interview one time the park service allows me to tell my story without having to tell my story. my first two parks were at military parks. if that made sense but i what i just said. so over the years i was able to get everything that was in here out. and i made the american public

victims of getting that out. >> whether they think it can help are not the only way they're going no and the only way you're going to know is to do it. i used to have this conversation with rhonda when i worked with her. the one thing i hate is when people turn something down in an idea down. the only way you will know if it works is if they do it. nothing changes we just go back to the way we were. those are my parting words. there are couple of things i would love to address and one of them is that i believe our national parks are our nations civic stage. within the park system whether it's the national mall which we certainly had experienced

or in valley forge or any number of places we go we are telling our story and how we care for those parks as we move forward and we think about places where some people may need to feel like they need healing or help or feel abandoned by something in our civic arena i can tell you that this was not welcome when we first came to dc. there was a hot hard-fought battle i will you be allowed to tell the story that is about what the world perceived. and now when we came back in 2012 we came back in 1986 when we came back each and every year thereafter there was a welcome fleet of national park

service employees capital police all sorts of people began to understand that a national story needed to be told so as we start to look at some of these very difficult conversations that involve truth and reconciliation which i think is at the center of a lot of the healing that communities are looking for and dialogues that need to take place. our civic arena the lands that we own as citizens of this country make for the best backdrop for these conversations. i'm honored to be a part of that story. with our quote and as a citizen who cares about each one of these stories. so thank you. >> here we are on our birthday today we are wrapping up our

first 100 years of service and entering in the next century and i want people to think that we have all of the answers. part of this initiative is that we have a wonderful goals for our centennial plan. we have a lot of initiatives follow to put the becks practices into place but we also want you to know that in some regards as with any great endeavor we are building the bridge as we walk over it. and there has been a path that is traditional when we get to have the honor of wearing the green and the gray in the flat hat that we might think of ourselves as expert. what were learning in this whole process is that we are sharing expertise with our visitors and with all of you it is an invitation to find

new parks. the grand crown trolls far away. we would like all of you and your audience and audience and in our communities and neighborhood to look at this whole agency is no what we are preserving and sharing. let us know you want to tackle in your communities in ways that you think the agency or your park can help share resources. you are the content experts about the perspectives from your life and your family history and your education the park service is seen we are learning this more and more every day that we move forward. it is just an open invitation to find your connection come

back to a park again come to your favorite park. go to a small park. try to work with the crowds at the big park. let us know what you see and what you wanted to and how we can work together. we need the future. we want to be the guides on the side. and we would like you to be with us as we go on the trail and paddle our canoes and ride our bicycles and creates our curriculums and design our interpretive talks and share like you are today in our dialogues. we can face the future with great confidence and excitement. thanks julia. and thanks again for everyone's attention at 100 we

have a rich history but at the point of my life i began to look at the spring board to the future and the work that i do again i just challenge you to spend some time today thinking about not just our native nations but all of the diversity that makes us america and when was the last time you heard the stories visited the places of someone different than you. it is a national park. i encourage you to take the time to take that bridge into someone else's life in someone else's story to straight to be able to put a new lens on and a new perspective of who we are as a nation. i think back to the work that i do in our community and the

dedication that we had put forth . working towards giving a voice to those who have been silenced for so long. it has never been written in a book. they are in the national parks. they are the books that need to be opened and read in a different way in a different narrative to all of the places that we hold dear as a nation i firmly believe as a people wherever you are on this planet you preserve and you protect the things that are important to you our nation has protected and held aside 413 national parks full of the

stories in places that are important to us as u.s. citizens and encourage us to begin to look at those stories through a whole different perspective i honor those who came before us in the work that they did and as we move into our next century i think i would like to charge the young people that are sitting and listening to this may be even in the audience if you've always wanted to be a national park ranger this is your time this is your time to step up and tell your story. to guide people in the places of our heritage. as i think about the youth that i work with in indian country. i think about the generational trauma that they carry with them but through programs like visiting our past the programs were indigenous.

through national park rangers that welcome those youth to the parks to see and learn and smell the stories of their past i look to the generational hope in them and i see that in all of our communities and just grateful to be here today thank you for the invitation and thank you all again for being here and be in a part of our centennial. [applause]. thank you. thank you to the national archives to our friends and culture resource. they helped organize us. thank you for hosting. we appreciated being hit and we appreciated you being here. [indiscernible]

our coverage of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the national park service continues at this evening on c-span three. we will be live at the robert e lee memorial. to consider past park stewardship and new conservation challenges. it's live at 7:00 p.m. eastern. we recently ask senator lamar alexander which national park have meaning for him. >> the great smoky mountain national park. i lived there. and because i really love it. it is the most visited national park in the country. it has nearly 10 million visitors a year it has more trees than all of europe put together all sorts of wildlife

80 years ago when it was formed there was about 100 black bears another 1600. and i can see two dozen in my front yard. i like the fact i can walk out of my house walk about 2 miles to my conservation property and walking to the great smoky park which includes the highest mountains in the eastern united states. i like the stories about the people that live there because unlike the western parks which were built out of land that the country artie owned. they were created in 1934 from land that north carolina and tennessee gave it to the country and people were moved out of the parks and they bought their land. those of us who live around there feel like we own it because it used to be ours. there is a sense of ownership. even though people come to the park from all over the country

one is the wildlife. to go from having white tail deer which is the way it was 80 years ago to countless numbers today. that's why. to allow these great trees to grow back they are mostly all locked. but after 80 years it is such a lush area that they are growing back. and then the family stories the people who live there i remember in the 80s when i was governor i took a walk through the park on the 50th birthday i stopped to see them he was then 95 years old. he had been blind for 20 years. he still was allowed to live in the park although it was created in the 1930s.

he was last man who was allowed to live in the park. and when he died no other people lived in the park. he was very reclusive. a couple of supreme court justices try to see him and he wouldn't let them come in. i said something like we haven't had many governors from this part of the state he said we didn't have many that didn't steal either. i haven't heard anything on you yet. one of the highlights for me at the 50th inner history of the park and then at the 75th anniversary in 2009. they rolled a piano into kate cove in the knoxville tennessee simply came and on the sunday afternoon i played the piano the symphony played and we played amazing grace. it sounded like that. it was the old bagpipes that they used to bring in to the mountains 200 years ago.