Push underway for National Park Service site in Delaware
The National Park Service has added 10 sites in the past decade, including a War of 1812 memorial in Michigan, an ancient volcano in Idaho and, the newest, the birthplace of President Clinton in Hope, Ark., which opened Jan. 2.
Yet not one has opened in Delaware, leaving it as the only state without a National Park Service site.
Delaware leaders have been pushing to end that distinction for a decade. They hope their latest proposal will finally get the state on the list. It would link six landmarks telling the story of Dutch and Swedish settlers in the 1600s and the state's role as the first to ratify the Constitution in 1787.
Name: Sen. Tom Carper
Getty Images House and Senate committees are reviewing identical bills to create the First State National Historical Park. Delaware Democratic Sen. Tom Carper said the park would recognize the state's history and boost tourism.
"Delaware has as much to offer in terms of history and culture as most other states have in their national parks," Carper said.
The idea faces a Congress reluctant to expand the size and expense of government, especially in light of a $7 billion to $9 billion backlog of maintenance projects at the nation's nearly 400 existing sites.
"Even if it's budget-neutral, that still adds to a list of areas that need to be maintained," said Spencer Pederson, spokesman for the House Committee on Natural Resources, which is reviewing a companion bill sponsored by Rep. John Carney, D-Del.
A National Park Service study in 2009 concluded Carper's proposal included "nationally significant" sites that should be protected. Part of Carper's argument boils down to pride: Delaware should have a National Park Service site because every other state does.
"It's not just another park. It's the first park for the First State," said Alan Spears, legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Spears said the proposal fits with the park service's vision to combine natural and cultural resources, sometimes in several places, to tell a story. For example, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park has sites in both Alaska and Washington, he said.
Carper's proposal includes Fort Christina and Holy Trinity (Old Swedes') Church in Wilmington. It also includes the plantation of John Dickinson, whose writings earned him the nickname "Penman of the Revolution," and the Green in Dover, where Delaware legislators ratified the Constitution.
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