Continuing America’s Best Idea; Patriotic Duty and working for the National Park Service

About the Author:

Keaton Welch has worked in Yellowstone National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore on their respective trail crews and has worked in Rocky Mountain National Park as a Law Enforcement Ranger. He is proud to wear the National Park Service’s arrowhead and continue to provide for the enjoyment of the generations of today and tomorrow.

Keaton Rescuing

Keaton Mowing

Keaton

A sense of Patriotic Duty has always nagged at me from the back of my brain and, truthfully, I found it hard to argue with that ever constant thought. However, the vast differences that I saw between 'America the country' and 'America the government' made me overwhelmingly hesitant to call myself a patriot.

It took time and some travel outside of the United States for me to realize that nature is the face of America that makes me swell with pride. It was in the experiences that I had while working with the National Park Service that I found my patriotism, over the last 11 summers and spread across 3 national parks I also found my way to give back to my country.

Let me explain:

The lingering bite of stinging nettle and the maddening itch of poison oak endured while wrestling a 300 pound self-propelled mower with a mind of its own on the shoulder of a trail four miles from the trailhead doesn’t quite evoke patriot music and an American flag waving behind me in the eyes of those visitors who saw the trail crew working at Point Reyes National Seashore.

The red, white, and blue strobes that bounce back from tree trunks, road signs, and guardrails as I race against time on the steep roads of Rocky Mountain National Park converging towards a law enforcement incident or some other emergency doesn't make me feel like I am a comic book hero who can save the world. But, I believe that those who serve in the green and grey uniforms are protecting something, and that is an idea.

That idea can be found in half of a sentence from the Organic Act of 1916 from which the National Park Service derives its mission, it reads:

“to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

I am not saying that this idea is perfect or has a spotless record as we look back on the history of the National Park Service. The idea behind the National Park Service is just that, an idea. It can change and is flexible enough to adapt to what is best for all aspects of the land, the animals, and waters that fall within the National Park Service’s jurisdiction.

By working for the National Park Service, I have improved the experience of Americans and international visitors from around the world. All of these people have come to the National Park Service units not because of our government, nor our politics; people make the pilgrimage to places like Yellowstone, Zion, Isle Royal, Acadia, and Ellis Island because in the early 1900’s Americans chose to set aside land and manage it so that you and I can enjoy it to this day over one hundred years later.