Save Our Mall Coalition Welcomes NPS Management Plan

Washington, D.C., November 6, 2006 — Last Wednesday, November 1^st, the National Park Service (NPS) held a press conference to announce start of its long promised National Mall Comprehensive Management Plan and an all-day "Future of the National Mall" symposium on November 15.

The Coalition welcomes this effort. The NPS last updated its Mall management plan in the 1960s and is now openly acknowledging the decrepit state of the grass, trees, restrooms and other amenities and the need for better management of the resources.

As a grassroots citizens group with expertise and experience of Mall matters, Save Our Mall wants to be part of this effort. In the past we have shared with NPS our own findings and suggestions for improvements, which were outlined in our Future of The National Mall report from 2004. Our key findings include that the American people have taken ownership of the Mall and made it the people's place and grand civic stage, that the Mall needs to expand to accommodate future museums and public uses, and that planning for public use is key to ensuring the Mall's continuing vitality in the 21st century.

You may be confused, as we were, by the suggestion in recent statements by NPS officials that this management plan represents a new, comprehensive 100-year plan for the Mall, in the tradition of the historic L'Enfant and McMillan Plans for the City of Washington and National Mall. It is not clear precisely what they mean. For example:

What do they mean by "comprehensive"? The NPS is only one of six government agencies with jurisdiction over the National Mall. Our own research shows that the Mall's problems extend well beyond parts of the Mall under National Park Service jurisdiction, that a key problem is fragmented management and Congressional oversight. Does the NPS plan look at areas only under its own jurisdiction--the open park land and major monuments--or does it also include other parts of the Mall under jurisdiction of the Smithsonian, Architect of the Capitol, National Gallery of Art, Department of Agriculture, and DC Government? Don't those agencies do their own planning? How will the NPS coordinate with them? How will NPS deal with the eight oversight committees in Congress?

What is the scope of the NPS management plan? Will it focus, as NPS management plans typically do, mainly on managing the natural and historic resources--grass, trees, monuments? Or is it more than that--an actual master plan covering future land use, transportation, future improvements including possible expansion, environmental and historic preservation concerns, visitor needs and accommodations, and of course future memorials and museums? The NPS press materials suggest it is the former, focusing on "maintaining healthy grass, trees and other landscape items, irrigation systems that need frequent repair and the availability of ample restroom facilities" and on determining "appropriate maintenance and use standards."

Is NPS's planning purpose actually comparable to that of the last 100-year plan? That plan, which gave us the Mall as we know it today, was undertaken by the McMillan Commission of 1901-1902, an independent body composed of preeminent designers including Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Daniel Burnham. The designers expanded and redefined the National Mall as our national symbol of American history and democracy for the 20th century.

How will NPS coordinate with DC Government, the city as a whole, and the local community? The Mall is a major economic engine for the city and its vitality is tied in to a number of local planning initiatives, including the Southwest Waterfront.

What is the timetable for completion of the plan and implementation of urgently-needed improvements? The NPS Rock Creek Management Plan, for example, is now still in process after 10 years with no end in sight. How soon can visitors expect to see restrooms at NPS food concessions, affordable transportation to and around the Mall, healthy grass, convenient parking?

And last, but certainly not least, how will NPS engage the public beyond the November 15 symposium and web-based public comment period, which ends on December 29, 2006. Strong and meaningful public involvement is key to the future vitality of the National Mall.

This is the link to the National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan

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