Environment
The Making Of A Park
Scientific Discovery and Educational Inquiry Become Hallmarks for American Samoa Park
It’s a long way from Minnesota to American Samoa, but for the late Bruce Vento, former science teacher turned U.S. Congressman, the distance was the least of the issues. During the 1980s, Congressman Vento was chairman of the House Subcommittee on Parks and Public Lands. He foresaw a scientific and educational future in the islands of American Samoa that would teach conservation and protection.
“His sights focused on the last remaining old world paleotropical rainforests in American Samoa,” says National Park Service (NPS) Pacific Islands Director Bryan Harry. “As chairman, he crafted a careful campaign, in partnership with American Samoa’s Governor A.P. Lutali, by first studying the natural resources and whether it was suitable and feasible as a national park.”
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From that first step, Vento garnered U.S. Congressional votes establishing the National Park of American Samoa in 1988 on portions of the islands of Tutuila, Tau, and Ofu.
Land ownership is only the first indication that this is not the usual national park. Vento and Lutali recognized the essential quality of the culture of American Samoa with land ownership remaining in the hands of Samoans. The National Park Service has a 50-year lease with eight villages. Village landowners are compensated by the National Park Service for allowing their lands to be used for park purposes. Land values are set by the High Court of American Samoa. President Bush signed a bill last fall that authorizes the addition of lands on the island of Olosega to the National Park Service and these too will be leased from the villages.
Ask most visitors about the primary purpose of national parks and you will usually get a quick response filled with memories of summer family vacations spent in mountain or beachside parks. Yet it is the conservation and educational component of national parks that has been the first priority of National Park Service employees at the Pago Pago headquarters. The American Samoa Territorial government is keen on encouraging tourism, consequently, the staff has worked on a system of “home stays” for intrepid visitors who find their way on the twice-weekly flights from Honolulu, or the more frequent twin-engine Otters coming from Samoa, 40 minutes to the west. But much of the initial work has been with the matai (chiefs) on appropriate use of lands and on scientific inquiry.
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An advisory board provides a vision to the National Park Service and includes High Chiefs Mulipola Herb Scanlon, Sr.; Matautia Tuiafono Paepaega II; Ms. Fiasili Puni E. Haleck; Director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Dr. Paul Cox and former House Parks Subcommittee Staff Director Dale Crane.
“The U.S. National Park Service can be a stuffy old organization,” says former NPS Deputy Director John J. Reynolds. “Its birthright comes from the establishment in 1864 of some lands in Yosemite and in 1872 of Yellowstone National Park.
“It took the U.S. Congress another 44 years to put its arms around a purpose for the growing number of places recognized as nationally significant,” Reynolds says. “And it was watershed legislation that conferred on the National Park Service the role of conserving these lands for enjoyment and protection for future generations. It has since been copied by countless countries around the world.”
During a New Years 2000 trip to American Samoa, Reynolds met with village chiefs and the newly-appointed advisory board. “I heard loud and clear that this park would be embraced by the citizens of American Samoa if the park service respected local culture and tradition. A side benefit would be economic stimulus,” he added.
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Today, a staff of nine is spending $1.3 million annually on archeological investigation, coral reef protection, trail development, scientific inventory and monitoring, and on the leases to the villages. About half of the staff are Samoan.
Conventional archaeological wisdom that ancient village sites are all along the shoreline is being debunked with park archeologists’ discovery of adzes and pottery found in middens (ancient dumping grounds) midway up steep mountain slopes. Park Archeologist Epi Suafoa is an American Samoan who came back from the University of Oregon to help unveil the hidden past of the islands. In doing so, she has broken a mold by being a working professional and daughter of a traditional Island household.
A study commissioned by Congressman Vento, 20 years ago now, acknowledged that the tropical forest in American Samoa is the largest such forest under the direct jurisdiction of the U.S. and it contains an important habitat for Pacific flying foxes, which help pollinate the forest.
It is species such as the bat, the 890 kinds of near-shore reef fish, the large corals, the Pacific boa, and the enormous wealth of plant life that inspire scientists and educators to come to these islands south of the equator.
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“These are fragile resources,” says the Park Service’s Bryan Harry. “They appear healthy and we want to keep them that way, but we know that the extinction of a particular fruit tree that the bat eats, for example, will have an effect on the entire ecosystem.”
Scientists are working, for example, to document the selective overharvesting of certain desirable species such as giant clams and octopus with the hope of finding ways to educate and involve the people in sustainable fishing.
Peter Craig, one of the park scientists admits, “There are many pressing and vitally interesting issues faced by the NPS in American Samoa.”
Park biologists are mapping, inventorying and monitoring forest health. Cultural resource personnel are learning from practitioners of traditional medicine how certain plants are used. Reynolds remembers scrapping his leg on a coral head while snorkeling and having an Ofu resident recommended a particular leaf, rubbed across the wound, to stop the bleeding.
“These details advance scientific discovery, educate others and illustrate conservation techniques,” he says.
A few years ago the park superintendent pulled together a group of young Samoans who understood civil defense emergencies and were physically fit to serve as park fire crews. The National Park of American Samoa crews are members of the villages, local fire departments and the U.S. Army Reserve.
Fire is not a normal condition of rainforests, however, sister parks in Hawaii and on the U.S. mainland need qualified firefighters when wildfires break out. The young men and women from American Samoa are popular because they bring with them an enthusiasm and hard work ethic as well as the ability to share cultural traditions with the mainlanders. They wowed the press and California firefighters with an ‘ava ceremony shared in a fire camp near San Francisco several years ago.
The next step for this farflung unit of the National Park System is to get a grip on controlling alien plants that choke out native species and can have a detrimental effect on the local agricultural traditions.
Harry adds, “The National Park Service works best by involving people—in partnership with government agencies—in the protection of native species, the cultural traditions and in educational and conservation pursuits.”
A Web page features the latest scientific and educational work from the park as well as the information on the home stay opportunities: www.nps.gov/npsa.
