As 250th celebrations take place across the country this month, our thoughts turn to a man whose ideas and landscapes have shaped our democracy far more than you might realize. Frederick Law Olmsted understood that for a nation to truly proclaim itself to be governed by the people, for the people, it must provide space for all its citizens to gather, reflect, demonstrate, and celebrate.
In 1876, as America marked its first centennial, the Olmsted firm was engaged in a project that has since become fixed in our national mythos: the US Capitol Grounds. In the following decades, Olmsted, his sons, and their successors continued to have a profound impact on our national identity— through their advocacy for the protection of natural treasures like Yosemite Valley and Niagara Falls; through work that helped shape the early vision and development of the National Park Service; and through world-renowned projects in cities like New York, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and most especially Washington, DC.
Today, too many of these spaces are under threat, and with them the democratic ideals underpinning them. At a time when we should uplift and celebrate the spaces that form our shared national heritage, they are becoming politicized and weaponized—a sad symptom of a division that endangers the very values we ought to celebrate this month.
In the face of these challenges, though, we have been amazed by the power of community tying so many Olmsted landscapes together. More than ever, park neighbors, community advocates, environmental advocates, and ordinary park users are coming together to stand up for the common ground they all depend on—and in so doing, they find common ground between each other. A recent poll by the Trust for Public Land shows that 85% of Americans across the political spectrum are proud of our country’s national parks and public lands. The message is loud and clear: ordinary Americans depend on the green spaces we share, the values they represent, and the ties they form.
Inspired by the love you show your parks, the Olmsted Network is fighting back. We are aiding and amplifying the advocacy efforts of our nationwide partners, joining legal efforts and publicly opposing threats to public parkland. In the Capital, we stand with fellow preservation groups calling for transparent public process in proposed projects at the White House, the National Mall, and beyond. We will not sit idly by while 250 years of democratic values are at risk, and your support is essential.
While we celebrate America’s semiquincentennial this weekend, let us not forget two essential truths: our country’s public lands belong to all of us, and protecting them—as well as the democracy they represent—requires vigilance.
