Discovery 2000
Memorandum from the Director

Robert Stanton
Director, National Park Service
December 13, 1999

The approaching turn of a century and a millennium is an extraordinary occurrence that has caused the world to pause and consider things ordinarily overlooked or taken for granted. People are reading books, and watching movies and television programs that review events of the past thousand years. Even more apparent is an almost universal rekindling of interest in the long-range future. This rare milestone in human history has provoked people to be both reflective and forward thinking. Where will this new century take us? How different will it really be? What will be the hazards, and what will be the reasons for hope? What are the obstacles, and what are the opportunities?

The National Park Service must ask itself such questions. Our traditions provide a cherished foundation upon which to build, but we know we cannot just continue building with the same tools in the same way. And we know that the 21st century will regard the national parks not by themselves, but as key elements in a national mosaic of conservation efforts engaged in accomplishing a larger common mission.

To advance this inquiry, I have directed the convening of a conference of present and future leaders of the Service and its partners. I will invite National Park Service employees and representatives from our many partners to convene in St. Louis for Discovery 2000: The National Park Service General Conference for the week of September 11-15. The Conference will feature program tracks on Cultural Resource Stewardship, Natural Resource Stewardship, Education, and Leadership. Each track will begin with a keynote speaker of national or greater standing: Dr. John Hope Franklin for Cultural Resource Stewardship, Dr. Edward O. Wilson for Natural Resource Stewardship, Maya Angelou for Education, and Dr. Peter Senge for Leadership.

Dr. John Hope Franklin is a legendary figure among American historians. Franklin, who holds the Presidential Medal of Freedom and honorary doctorates from more than 100 universities, has been the president of the leading professional historical societies in the nation and is the newly-appointed Chair of the National Park System Advisory Board.

Dr. Edward O. Wilson, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Diversity of Life, and Consilience: the Unity of Knowledge, is an eminent Harvard biologist. He is the founder of sociobiology, the study of genetically determined behavior, and is a renowned entomologist. Among environmentalists, he is acclaimed as one of the world's most credible advocates of protecting the planet's biodiversity.

Maya Angelou, author of 10 best selling books and numerous magazine articles, is regarded as one of America's most distinguished contemporary poets. At the request of President Clinton, Angelou composed and delivered a poem at his inauguration. She lectures regularly throughout the United States and abroad. Angelou is internationally respected as both a poet and author. She speaks French, Spanish, Italian, and West African Fanti.

Dr. Peter Senge is the founder of the Society for Organizational Learning, whose members share and advance the cause of "systems thinking" and constant on-the-job learning. His 1989 book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization, launched a new concept of leadership that enables organizations to learn constantly from their own experience. He is also a Board member of The Natural Step/United States, one of eight "national" components of a rapidly growing international organization dedicated to discovery, use, and teaching of practices that will enable sustainable use of the Earth.

Following each keynote, conference participants will choose from a broad selection of instructive lectures, mobile workshops, and in-depth dialogues that consider plausible future scenarios and what the Service might do to prepare for them. Every session will deal with a subject of profound importance. Participants will be challenged. The intent is to produce thinking that will guide us for several decades.

To plan and produce this Conference and its immediate follow-up I have appointed long-time National Park Service Executive Jerry L. Rogers as Conference Chair. Co-Chairs are Martha Aikens, Superintendent of Independence National Historical Park, who will lead the Education Track; Dan Wenk, Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, who will lead the Leadership Track; and Gary Candelaria, Superintendent of Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve, who will lead the two Stewardship Tracks with the assistance of Associate Directors Michael Soukup and Kate Stevenson. Also involved in the process are Jim Gasser, Conference Planner; Gary Easton, Superintendent of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; Gary Cummins, Manager of the Harpers Ferry Interpretive Design Center; Loran Fraser, Chief of the Office of Policy; and David Barna, Chief of the Office of Public Affairs. Many others will be called upon to contribute to development of the program.

Substantial private donations of money and service are anticipated in order to minimize the use of appropriated funds for the Conference. And to offset the appropriated funds that will be spent, I have directed all Regions to hold no regional superintendents conferences in 2000.

I want Discovery 2000 to stimulate every mind: to develop a vision of the National Park Service's 21st century role in the life of the nation; to inspire and invigorate the Service, its partners, and the public about this vision; and to develop new leadership to meet the challenges of the future.