Mission 66
The mission 66 was an initiative of the US federal government on the 50th anniversary of the company founded in 1916 the National Park Service , the infrastructure of the National Parks and National Monuments expand and improve in particular the facilities for visitors.
After the financial restrictions in the context of the war economy in World War II, the federal protected areas were in a deplorable condition around 1950, the development of mass tourism and the spread of cars simultaneously led to a rapid increase in the number of visitors to the attractive destinations. The infrastructure of the parks built in the 1930s as part of the New Deal , mainly by the Civilian Conservation Corps , could no longer keep up with demand. Bernard DeVoto wrote in Harper's Magazine "Let's close the National Parks" in 1953 to draw attention to the grievances.
Politicians reacted and from 1957 provided a total of a little over one billion US dollars in addition for ten years up to the anniversary year of 66 . The funds were used to build new roads, hiking trails, parking lots, camping sites and above all visitor centers or to renovate them. The modern architectural style of many of the buildings created at that time attracted criticism. Large-scale exhibitions within the museums and outside in the form of educational trails were created. Funds were also made available to purchase private properties inside parks.
As part of Mission 66, the Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services in the NPS was founded in 1964 . It is still responsible for the interpretation of nature and culture and has its own training center for rangers. The teaching of natural and cultural content relied heavily on audiovisual media : audio-visuals and educational films created for all the major parks of the NPS and are (now often in digital form) since the standard in visitor centers of protected areas .
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary in 2016 and the again critical financial situation of the NPS, a Centennial Initiative was started at the end of 2007 , which, however, despite the multiplied number of National Park Service facilities, only has a fraction of the sums of 1966 after adjustment for purchasing power. So far (as of April 2008) $ 170 million has been secured, and the federal government has requested a total of $ 1 billion from Congress . In addition, matching funds in the amount of a further billion dollars have been applied for, which are only due if the same amount can be raised in the form of donations.
Web links
- Lary M. Dilsaver: America's National Park System: The Critical Documents (Chapter on Mission 66) , National Park Service 1994
- A History of the National Park Service Mission 66 Program (PDF; 3.7 MB) - Scan of a summary of the origins of the program, by Roy E. Appleman, January 1958
- Mission66.com - about the initiative with a focus on the architecture of the newly built visitor centers
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bernard DeVoto: Let's close the National Parks . In: Harper's Magazine, October 1953, pages 49-52