Across the Atlantic, two national parks collaborate

By Lillion Alhassan/Kent State NewsLab

Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the United Kingdom’s Dartmoor National Park became sister parks in 2024. The five-year partnership marks the first time the National Park Service has had such a relationship with a UK-based national park.

The idea took nearly three and a half years to become official, said Peter Harper, who served as a member of the Dartmoor National Park Authority until this year.

“When I went out for the signing of the agreement, we were actually blown away by the amount of work and things that have been done to actually restore nature within the Cuyahoga [Valley] National Park. We came away feeling things can actually be done differently,” Harper said.

Philanthropy

The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) is a nonprofit partner that supports trail restoration, youth programs and volunteer projects at the park.

“The entire reason we exist is to be additive to the work of the National Park Service,” said Dan Blakemore, vice president of philanthropy for the Conservancy.

He said that work includes supporting the Environmental Education Center and expanding volunteer efforts like tree planting and invasive-species removal, all with the goal of improving biodiversity and ensuring the park’s habitats can thrive.

While the federal government provides core funding, the Conservancy supplements it through donations, retail operations and event rentals.

“Philanthropy is still a significant part of that revenue mix,” Blakemore said. “It can be successful for many of the other park partners like ourselves, but it’s not a cure-all for everybody.”

Dartmoor is now creating its own friends group, modeled partly after the Conservancy.

According to the Dartmoor National Park Authority, real-terms national park funding has fallen by 50% since 2010-11. That has contributed to reduced staffing levels and increased pressure on the park as climate change-related challenges continue to grow.

“We’re seeing very dry summers now, so we are having a real trouble with wildfires across the moors,” Harper said.

In winter, he said, the increasingly heavy rainfall is accelerating erosion, especially when visitors step off muddy paths and create new worn areas that worsen the problem.

Education

Education is a core piece of the sister-park partnership, and in the Cuyahoga Valley, much of that work happens through hands-on, place-based learning. January Miller, vice president of education for the Conservancy, said the goal is to help students build confidence, curiosity, and a sense of stewardship.

“What we strived really hard to do is to make sure that every person who comes out to the park finds their access point,” she explained. “Even if a kid doesn’t see themselves as a scientist, or maybe science isn’t their biggest interest, there is an access point for them, because this is their national park.”

Miller also stressed that the Conservancy works to eliminate financial barriers so students from any background can participate fully in the park’s programs.

CVNP’s Environmental Education Center, a 500-acre campus welcoming about 10,000 students each year, blends outdoor learning with science, art, and civic engagement. Dartmoor runs similar education programs, Blakemore said, often using working farms as living classrooms and even busing children in from London.

After COVID-19, both parks viewed education as a pathway to community recovery. For Miller, the pandemic reminded people how essential nature is to well-being. When the outdoors thrives, she said, “we are healthier as humans.”

Teachers noticed that shift in their students, too.

“It really tightened those bonds, as we went through this collective trauma and we’re coming out of it and finding healing spaces,” she said.

Environmental and historical conservation

The partnership has already inspired exchange trips, shared research and ideas for virtual classrooms connecting students and teachers across continents. The Conservancy is exploring how Dartmoor’s “artisan trail” concept, celebrating farmers and craftspeople, could be adapted to the Ohio park.

CVNP’s conservation work extends beyond wildlife and waterways to include preserving historical structures that tell the story of Ohio’s industrial past.

“It’s not just about preserving history for the sake of history, it’s about making sure we’re telling the full American story,” Blakemore said.

For example, after purchasing the former Brandywine Golf Course, the team discovered records of African-American recreation in the area, stories once buried in the valley’s landscape.

“As we plan to activate that property, we wanna make sure that those stories are elevated and are told,” Blakemore said.

Miller emphasized that understanding the park means understanding the people who shaped it.

“The human stories and the environmental stories are inextricably linked,” she said. “And it’s really important to tell the story of the people who worked really hard to make change.”

Looking ahead, Miller said the next generation gives her hope.

“The great questions that they ask and how bright and so civically minded,” she said. “When people worry about the future, I look at them and think, they’ve got good ideas. They’ll go on and do good.”

Lillion Alhassan wrote this article for Kent State NewsLab. It was produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.