The Best Idea Liz Putnam Ever Had

August 25, 2016 will mark the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. But in 1953, there was an article in Harper's Magazine by historian Bernard DeVoto in which he suggested that the National Parks be surrounded by the US Army in order to protect the parks from the hoards of visitors. The parks and the Park Service were struggling in the '50s because of the expendable income that Americans had after the war and the parks and the National Park Service were underfunded. DeVoto's proposal to solve a very real problem caught the attention of college student Liz Putnam.

Photo: thesca.org

Liz Putnam was a student at Vasser College and, after reading DeVoto's article, she switched her major to Geology and wrote "A Proposal for A Student Conservation Corps" as her senior thesis. Since she had changed her major so late in her college career, she missed a required summer course, but her advisor arranged a unique experience for her. She spent the summer volunteering with the newly formed Upper Hoosick Valley Watershed Association. This experience allowed her to see what did and did not work when setting up a new organization. 

Photo: hudsonhoosicpartnership.org

In August 1955, Putnam went on an excursion to the National Parks to propose her idea of a student conservation corps and to hear what park staff thought about it. Putnam was joined by Marty Hayne Talbot and, at the suggestion of former National Park Service Director Horace Albright, they visited Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. After submitting the report to Albright, her proposal became a reality and Olympic and Mount Rainier requested to be test parks for the first trial of the Student Conservation Association. In 1957, 53 college and high school student volunteers were sent into parks to assist in a number of different projects. 

Photo: thesca.org

Today, Putnam's college thesis has evolved into an extremely useful tool for the National Park Service. Over 3,000 students volunteer annually with the SCA and provide over one million hours of service, completing projects that would be neglected due to continued and persistent underfunding of the National Park Service. If the Army had to guard the perimeter of the National Parks, would we have 407 National Park units today?

Photo: exotichikes.com