Dear Park Friend,

Please enjoy these updates from around the Southeast.

New Roles in the Southeast Team
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Eboni Preston Goddard on her promotion to Southeast Regional Director. Eboni served in the acting position in 2024, and we look forward to her continued leadership in supporting the region.

We are also thrilled to welcome two new faces to the southeast team: Zach Kirby, Philanthropy Advisor, and Mechelle Chane, Mississippi Civil Rights Era Fellow.

Zach (above left) will be working closely with our donors and supporters, connecting them with our work in the region and across the country. He joined NPCA in 2019 as an intern and has become an integral part of the Development team. His talent and vibrancy are a great addition to the southeast.

As Civil Rights Era Fellow, Mechelle (above right), will lead and support further development of NPCA’s organizing and engagement work on civil rights and Reconstruction Era parks, by developing reciprocal and authentic relationships with partners and elected officials. She currently lives in Alligator, MS where she serves as a Community Development Practitioner. She is a retired elected official and enjoys engaging with small rural communities in the Mississippi Delta. Mechelle is the founder of Friends of the Environment, a small non-profit which connects historically impoverished residents to services and programs while lifting the cultural environment. She is also a Cultural Heritage Ambassador for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

2024 Stephen T. Mather Award
Last year, NPCA awarded two Stephen T. Mather honorees: Dave Hallac, Superintendent at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Vincent Santucci, Senior National Park Service Paleontologist. The Mather Award honors individuals in the Park Service that have shown outstanding dedication and leadership to our national parks. Both Hallac and Santucci’s work has had immeasurable impact on multiple park units in the Southeast Region, from the coast to Mammoth Cave, and we’re so glad we were able to honor them.

Coastal Resiliency Symposium Recap
Last September, NPCA was represented at the Coastal Resiliency Symposium held at Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC. It was a great chance to engage with NPS staff, scientists, policymakers and outreach managers, including participants from as far as Alaska, all while focusing on North Carolina as a case study. Staff from the Southeast and Suncoast regions were in attendance as well as members of the Southeast Young Leaders Council, and Hope Liu, the Suncoast summer Landscape Conservation Science Fellow.

Key highlights centered around erosion management on barrier islands, coastal pollution and the restoration of formerly used defense sites—issues that are increasingly complex due to legal and insurance challenges. Looking ahead, we may be able to advocate for policy shifts toward natural resource management, the mitigation of legacy contaminants, better restoration coordination, and legislative reforms like HR8637 for oceanfront structures. We also see opportunities to join collaborative efforts on salt marsh conservation, support drone use in monitoring, and engage communities in preserving cultural resources at risk from rising sea levels.

The team witnessed presentations from Duke Marine Lab students pioneering ideas in coastal resiliency, and it was inspiring to see the next generation of advocates developing practical solutions. NPCA concluded the symposium with a panel session, highlighting our work across regions, and shared case studies on Safe Passage and Everglades Restoration, showcasing how science, policy and outreach have built bipartisan support for these critical issues.

Cape Hatteras Beach Clean Up
On a blustery weekend in December, NPCA partnered the with Southern Environmental Law Center and NC Coastal Federation to participate in Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s new Adopt-A-Beach program. The team of volunteers, including NPCA staff Jeff Hunter and Southeast Young Leader Anna Ewing, cleaned two miles of beach at the north end of Cape Hatteras. The National Seashore has been continuously challenged with collapsing oceanfront homes and waste along the shoreline. Community engagement and partnerships will be fundamental in caring for our coastal parks.

Rosenwald Convening Recap
In early November, NPCA staff and Young Leader Brian Wuertz attended the NC Rosenwald Schools Convening hosted by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission. The two-day event was an opportunity to connect and celebrate the legacy and impact of Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina. Through a partnership with Julius Rosenwald and Booker T Washington, over 5,000 public schools were constructed across the south, giving opportunity for Black students to have a formal education during the Jim Crow era. Alan Spears, NPCA’s Senior Director of Cultural Resources, and Dr. Dorothy Canter, President of the Rosenwald Park Campaign and longtime national park advocate, led a panel sharing the progress and current standing on establishing a Rosenwald Schools national park site.

Attendees at the convening toured the newly restored Panther Branch Rosenwald School and heard from alumni about their experiences. Walking through the historic building and viewing artifacts from the school’s operating days was a potent reminder of the importance of preserving cultural resources and stories in our park system. You can join us in asking congress to fund cultural resource protection for national parks.

Watch/Read/Listen

Safe Passage Opinion Editorial – Incorporate Wildlife Safety into I-40 repairs
“If not now, when?” As Asheville continues to recover and repair after the devastation of Hurricane Helene, NPCA’s Wildlife Biologist Steve Goodman asks an important question in his opinion op-ed in the Asheville Citizen Times. Steve and other leaders in the Safe Passage work are raising awareness that much progress could be made to continue reducing wildlife-vehicle related deaths on I-40 while the highway is closed for repairs. This could be a pivotal moment to put resources and funding toward wildlife corridors that would be of benefit to all, humans and wildlife, but Safe Passage needs to have input in the rebuilding discussions with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Read the full piece here for Steve’s thoughts on this important issue.

Call to Action

Buffalo National River Under Threat Once Again!
In 2013, NPCA joined a coalition of state and local advocacy organizations in Arkansas to oppose the secretly permitted C&H Hog Farm, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the Buffalo River watershed. Due to the region’s sensitive karst geology, liquid animal waste from this facility quickly began to negatively impact water quality within the watershed. In 2019, $6.2 million of mostly taxpayers' money was spent to close the C&H CAFO and the State of Arkansas placed a moratorium on any future medium or large CAFO’s in the watershed.

Now the Arkansas Senate has introduced a bill (SB 84) that would eliminate the moratorium on Swine CAFOs in the watershed. This bill is being fast-tracked and could receive a Senate vote this week, followed quickly by action in the Arkansas House of Representatives.

Please contact members of both the AR Senate and House Agriculture Committees with the simple message: “Please vote against Senate Bill 84, or any equivalent House legislation, and support the existing moratorium on medium and large swine CAFOs in the Buffalo River Watershed!"

Thank you for defending our national parks!

Upcoming

60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March
2025 marks the 60-year anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March, a historic multiday demonstration during the civil rights movement protesting black voter suppression in Alabama and across the south. There were multiple attempts made in March of 1965 to complete the intended route, beginning with Bloody Sunday on March 7th and the third and final trek March 21 - 24. The marches led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and the route is designated as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in the National Park System.

To honor, remember and commemorate the bravery and resolve of the marchers, NPCA is partnering with Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and local videographer, Jori Parson, to host a Walking Classroom for seventy-five youth aged 18 - 25. Along with 225 public marchers, the youth participants will recreate the third and final 54-mile march while reflecting on and sharing their experience through the documentary.

We hope you’re able to take a moment to reflect on the impact and importance of the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March, and join NPCA in protecting and uplifting cultural resource park sites.

Other upcoming dates

• National Park Advocacy Week, April 7 - 10: Join us to lobby and advocate for national parks in Washington, D.C.

• 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, August 6, 1965

• 70th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, August 28, 1955

As you can see, we are working across the Southeast region to protect our parks and couldn't do it without members and supporters like you. To contact us, please use [email protected]. We are so grateful for all your support, for helping us defend these incredibly important places in our nation's natural, cultural and historic sites.

Sincerely,

Zana Pouncey
Southeast Outreach and Engagement Manager