WHAT DOES A PARK MEAN TO YOU?
Rex Burress
City parks are a valuable aspect of a community. What would Chico, CA be without Bidwell Park, or Oroville without River Bend Park and Bedrock Park? On the 100th anniversary of our National Parks, what does a park mean to you?
Even my small hometown Trenton, Missouri had an official city-maintained Moberly Park with well-mowed lawns, swimming pool, and recreational equipment when I was a boy, where people could go and recreate. You could literally park in the park to picnic and play! I imagine it is still there.
As is common in city parks, snags in trees and 'weeds,' although attractive to wildlife, were/are usually cut in the name of safety. City parks put people first. It was admirable to see the Feather River Recreation and Park District management, fence and delay cutting some dead cottonwoods in River Bend Park in Oroville, so that the acorn woodpeckers could finish nesting in 2016.
Trenton also has a wilder Crowder State Park a few miles west with more outdoor options, and permanent snags/weeds, although parts of the park has maintained lawn areas. Trails wander off through the hardwood forest for miles though, providing a sample of wilderness atmosphere. Often we have to be content with “mini-wilderness” places.
The forests and fields of farmland surrounding Trenton provided plenty of outdoor space to explore--wilder, more unkempt plots of private land, mostly accessible for community folks. “Just ask.” Neighboring Floyd's Timber was my mainstay as a nature boy, and Floyd Patterson, Earl Foster, Kit Collins, Sid Sanders, and all the farm owners up and down No Creek, generously allowed me to explore, hunt, and fish.
Similar to Crowder Park, parts of the rural land was semi-wild but it was also thoroughly tended by agriculturalists, and as such, fields were plowed, crops planted, trees cut, streams altered, and cows grazed along the creek. Every inch of land in the entire county and state is either privately owned or secured in parks and refuges, mostly subjected to manipulation. Management is the name of the land-game over most of the earth.
The ideas of John Muir and Henry David Thoreau reflected their belief that “In Wildness is the Preservation of the World,” which referred to saving places for nature to act freely and the land to be protected as an official natural reserve. Yosemite Park methods suggest a more conservationist attitude of wisely using natural resources, and recreational popularity limits total preservation.
Campgrounds, horse trails, and tourist facilities are woven into the wild tapestry of most parks to accommodate visitation, on a scale that tree-preservationist Muir might find shocking! Would the pioneering naturalist approve of limiting access to trails and campgrounds as permit systems now regulate?
An example of a managed system is Lakeside Park in the heart of Oakland, CA. Although highly organized, samples of wilder places can be found in the 220 acres of mixed trees and mowed lawns surrounding Lake Merritt, where Fairyland, Nature Center, Sailboat House, Jr. Science Center, Garden Center, and a bandstand share the park space. Over half the tree species planted in the park are of foreign origin.
Other urban parks share the same condition of human accommodations and an altered environment mingling with nature. Even the John Muir National Park Historic Site at Benicia, CA—dedicated to Naturalist Muir of the Wild Mountains-- shows mowed lawns, buildings, and introduced trees. Native plant lovers are kept busy in Bidwell Park at Chico, removing invasive foreign plants such as Himalayan blackberry and Japanese privet. Australian eucalyptus is to be contended with in much of California.
True wilderness, that includes only native wildlife and natural conditions, is very difficult to find on a planet that has been monopolized and rearranged by human kind. Wilderness Park areas in America that preserve the original natural aspect and ban mechanical intrusions are limited mostly to mountainous sectors of the west. Heavy use of trails has necessitated permit systems to limit erosion. Most other types of parks are a compromise between nature and recreational features. What does a park mean to you?
I AM YOUR PARK
“Come unto me...you who are weary within./ You who are worn by the city's din.../And I will give you the restful greenness of grass and trees./Come unto me—Senior Citizens and dreaming youth./ Rest under the oak tree, walk the shady pathway./Watch the water ripple and glisten,/Hear the birds call...listen...listen./Come unto me—I AM YOUR PARK!/Let me give you relaxation. Let me give you education. Let me give you inspiration.
I AM YOUR PARK” --Rex Burress [1980]