Worthy of a National Park

Biscayne Bay National Recreation Area. Virginia Key National Monument. Virginia Key Visitor Center at Biscayne National Park. Virginia Key Heritage Corridor, national seashore, refuge, wilderness area.

Or any combination of the above.

Miami should be so lucky to have any of these become a reality.

This past weekend, the man who could get that going was in Miami. National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis was on Virginia Key, in fact -- looking and listening to Miamians talk about how to make America’s National Parks more relevant and accessible.

“What is the role of the National Park Service in the next century? It is deeper than stewardship.” Jarvis told the audience of about 100 environmental educators and activists at a stakeholder meeting held at the University of Miami Rosensteil School library last Friday, March 19.

“We’re interested in making the connections (with the American people), particularly where we have this urban/wild interface,” he said. That morning Jarvis had explored parts of the island, including the historic Virginia Key Beach Park.

Jarvis traveled to Miami with the Deputy Director for Communications and Community Assistance Mickey Fearn, Regional Director David Vela and the Superintendent of Mt. Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, Gerard Baker. The diverse contingent conveyed the park system’s commitment to increasing the diversity of visitors, in part by bringing the parks closer to the people but also, by educating the public about the different kinds of park properties.

“The National Parks are not just about majestic places,” said Deputy Director Fearn. “They are educational institutions, spiritual places and science centers. And they are about places that tell the story of America."

Virginia Key would certainly seem to fit that descripton.

Certainly it would be one of the nation’s most beautiful and unique additions, making Miami an urban gateway to the National Park System. Wild, yes, with its sea turtle-nesting beaches, manatees and dolphins, rare songbirds, and critical habitats of hammocks, mangroves and dunes. And urban, too. So urban, in fact, you could walk to it from downtown Miami.

And the stories it could tell - from Tequestas to the Civil Rights Movement to the cultural legacy of MiMo (Miami Modern) architecture embodied in the historic Miami Marine Stadium.


The Virginia Key Visitor Center of Biscayne National Park and in Biscayne National Park, steps from downtown Miami.

Now that's an "urban/wild interface."