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Barnabas McHenry

BOB BINNEWIES HAS written an elegant chronicle of the battles, skirmishes, and acts of valor that have given our nation one of its most esteemed and innovative park systems. The private citizens and professional administrators who illuminate these pages are on the honor roll of American conservation. Here, they receive proper recognition for their passionate labor in solving the complex tasks associated with building and protecting an intricate park system in the graceful Hudson River Valley. Palisades is the tale of how green islands of nature and historic anchor points of our nation’s birth are presented in an incalculable display that attracts millions of visitors each year.

Visitors discover multiple outdoor recreational opportunities. They may hike along miles of forest trails and cliffside pathways, swim in sparkling lakes, enjoy rustic camping, learn from nature educators and historians, follow George Washington and the Continental Army from the beginning to the end of the Revolutionary War, share space with wild birds, animals, insects, and plants, test climbing skills on vertical rock walls, enjoy spectacular scenic views, discover quiet wilderness vales, and relax at the historic Bear Mountain Inn. All this within the nation’s most densely populated metropolitan region.

The challenge to protect these treasures began with a brutal blast of dynamite in the late nineteenth century and continues to this day, most recently when an industrial giant threatened to grievously wound natural scenery at the very heart of the park system. The story of getting from zero protected acres to the rich tapestry that is today’s Palisades park system is one of huge determination, moments of crisis, caustic resistance to the very idea of conservation, glorious philanthropy, a steep learning curve, and responsibilities for guardianship passed with care from one generation to the next.

Assembling these public privileges has been “no walk in the park.” The effort is immense and has attracted the allegiance of famous Roosevelts, Rockefellers, Harrimans, and thousands of not-so-famous like-minded citizens. All have given of their time, expertise, and money to build a park legacy of incomparable benefit. The pages of this book confirm that a conservation experiment begun at a rock quarry has influenced our nationwide conservation agenda, including the establishment of the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Above all, Palisades is a celebration—a compelling statement that Planet Earth is our home and that we can maintain it wisely, if we try.