Delaware is the only state without an NPS unit. A bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate aims to fix that. Will this dog hunt?

With 392 units in the National Park System, you’d think at least one of them would be in Delaware. If not one of the 58 national park-designated units, then maybe at least a national preserve, a national monument, a national memorial, a national seashore, a national parkway, a national military park, a national battlefield, a national historic site, a national historical park, or a national something-or-other.

Heck, this is really frustrating and embarrassing for the good people of Delaware. Frustrating to know that Delaware gets no national park-related jobs at all while American Samoa – American Samoa!! – gets 43. Embarrassing to realize that every other state can choose its very own national park symbol for the new national park quarter coin series, while Delaware has to be satisfied with a "national site."

Even for people who openly invite ridicule (why else would they name their A-list sports teams “the fightin' Blue Hens”?), those Delawarians (or is it Delawarites?) have got to be smarting.

S. 1801 to the rescue?

On October 20, 2009, following a protracted study, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate that holds promise to lead Delaware out of the wilderness and into the loving embrace of the National Park System. If enacted into law, S. 1801 (111th Congress, 1st Session) would give Delaware its first-ever National Park System unit, one to be designated “First State National Historical Park.”

You can read the full text of the bill at this site, but here are some key excerpts:

(a) …..Congress finds that--
(1) the State of Delaware contains a collection of nationally significant resources relating to--
(A) the early succession of the Dutch, Swedish, and English settlement of the United States; and
(B) the period leading up to the role of Delaware as the first State to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787;

[and]

(1) IN GENERAL- The Park shall be comprised of the following, as generally depicted on the map:
(A) The New Castle Historic District.
(B) Fort Christina.
(C) The Old Swedes Church.
(D) The John Dickinson Plantation.
(E) Lombardy Hall.
(F) Stonum.
(G) The Lewes Historic District.
(H) The Dover Green.

We’ll know soon enough whether this bill has legs. For all we know, it might speed its way through both houses and end up on President Obama’s desk faster than you can say “park barrel politics.” Stranger things have happened.

But if I were you, Delawarians, I wouldn’t count my national parks before they are hatched. I suspect that there’s going to be some pretty tough scrutiny of this bill.

Critics are likely to pose arguments that boil down to this: Every state, bar none, could cobble together a list of significant historic sites that can be topically and geographically linked, present it to Congress, and say “Here, make this a national park.” Why aren’t they doing this at a furious pace? Because they all have NPS units already and don’t need to resort to subterfuge.

Delawarians will counter with the argument that their particular collection of historic sites and structures is particularly meritorious. To placate critics, they may even offer to change the designation of the proposed park. Even the most ardent supporter of this proposal has got to admit that “first state national” is a very confusing juxtaposition of terms.

Let the verbal jousting begin.