Comments for Legacy Magazine

Comment on A Place to Learn by Kelly Farrell

Kelly Farrell — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:10:35 +0000

Well said. Thanks for sharing this.

Comment on Channeling Hope: Applying Interpretation to a Stream Restoration Project by Kenneth Bausch

Kenneth Bausch — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:01:08 +0000

Your determination to complete the project rivals the determination of the steelhead to make it back to their home stream. My congratulations to everyone. In simple terms, “You Rock!”

Comment on Storytelling for Interpreters and Rangers: A Unique and Critical Approach by Cat Taylor

Cat Taylor — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:27:29 +0000

Thank you for this wonderful reminder that storytelling is crucial to good interpretation. It is, simply put, the most effective tool for transporting an audience to another time, another place, another culture. I have had the privilege of working in the same agency as a very gifted and committed naturalist and storyteller, Linda Yemoto, who I have learned much from over the years. I think that we all need a reminder now and again, that interpretation isn’t just a bunch of facts, but an art, a craft, which can build a bridge to understanding.

Comment on Asking the Right Questions by Lyman Grover

Lyman Grover — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:25:28 +0000

So true. That’s why I personally prefer the “iceberg” approach to interpretation, i.e. research the resource to ten times the depth of any presentation one can ever imagine making as preparation for the times when one has misjudged the situation. Then, if a situation arises as you describe, one’s presentation can be modified to a different “tip of the iceberg” on the spot, with no one the wiser.

The most memorable experience I have had like that was when I was teaching English in a private high school in Inner Mongolia, China, a few years ago. The Chinese headmaster of ‘my’ school asked me if I would go the next morning to his friends’ private school for teaching English to adults and talk to her about teaching methods I was using. I agreed and she picked me up in her limousine the next morning at 8 AM. On the way to her school I asked her what she wojld like me to cover in our conversation. She said I could cover whatever I liked during the six hours, 9AM to 3PM, I would be teaching conversational English to the Financial Administrators of the City of Batou, all high-ranking Communist party members, who had to pass a government mandated test in English in the next two weeks. It turned out to be a fun day!

Comment on Channeling Hope: Applying Interpretation to a Stream Restoration Project by Lyman Grover

Lyman Grover — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:33:25 +0000

This was so well written that I feel connected to the project in a way no other blog on this site has ever achieved. I will be in that area within the next month and a visit to the restored stream is now a must. Thank you for your professionalism in both the project and your blog writing.

Comment on Interpreting Rivers by Joan Abel

Joan Abel — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:45:50 +0000

Thank you for a very informative website. I have been introduced to your magazine through the Historian at Liberty State Park, in Jersey City, NJ. I work as Archivist and Interpretive Specialist and enjoyed the articles in the July/August 2010 issue, especially the stream restoration project. I am just starting the process to address the restoration (clean-up) of a tidal creek at the park’s border, and hope to link into the larger master plan for the Raritan/Hudson River Estuary.
Joan Abel, M.E.S., B.Arch.

Comment on Restorative Alchemy from the Green Kingdom by Rachel Engebrecht

Rachel Engebrecht — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:18:06 +0000

Inspiring article – makes me want to learn more about how plants got their names, and share this information with park visitors!

Comment on Exploring an Altered Landscape: Using Site Restoration to Connect Visitors with a Forgotten Past by Edwina Shannon

Edwina Shannon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:35:17 +0000

I like how you mixed the student’s eye view into this article.

Comment on Restorative Alchemy from the Green Kingdom by Tena Jones

Tena Jones — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:17:08 +0000

Another wonderful article by Wren Smith. Thank you, Wren for sparking that urge to “re-story” the land. I love your insights.

Comment on A Conspiracy Theory in Our Parks? by Brian H

Brian H — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:10:52 +0000

Enjoyed the article and didn’t take offense to the joke conspiracy theory. I found it a humorous and entertaining way to get to the main message, the message I took away at least, of ensuring that we maintain our interpretive integrity and explain the truth to what people are seeing and experiencing. Manipulating resources to sustain and restore them may be okay, but manipulating people to believe what we want them to is not. Every visitor enters with their own opinions and will leave with them also, conspiracy theory or otherwise.