National Park Service Director Sams tours Hampton Roads area national parks, highlights commitment to addressing climate change impacts, repairing critical infrastructure, and[...]

Date: May 5, 2022
Contact: [email protected]

YORKTOWN, Va. - Last week, National Park Service (NPS) Director Chuck Sams visited Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, and Werowocomoco in Gloucester County, part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail to learn about the vast diversity of these significant sites and the work that will need to be done to continue their preservation.

While visiting the Colonial Parkway, a 23-mile scenic roadway stretching from the York River to the James River, Sams saw firsthand the impacts of erosion caused by rising sea levels. This increase in erosion threatens the Colonial Parkway and historic and Indigenous archeological sites. Climate change is impacting the parks in the Hampton Roads region at greater than the national rate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently projects approximately 95% of Jamestown Island will be underwater by 2100. Sams and park management discussed the York River Shoreline Stabilization project, an upcoming project to stabilize approximately three miles of York River shoreline, which will re-establish views of the York River from the Parkway. The $19 million construction project is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act's Legacy Restoration Fund as well as the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. They also discussed ongoing efforts to strengthen relationships with Indigenous and African American descendant communities around the park with a focus on archeology and climate change.

Sams also met with Colonial Parkway's facility manager to discuss the first major rehabilitation project the parkway has seen since it was constructed between the 1930s-50s. The parkway has become an important commuter route between the Yorktown and Williamsburg communities and its heavy usage has accelerated the deterioration of the historic exposed aggregate concrete slabs and associated features. The $128 million phase 1 rehabilitation project will address climate resiliency through the addition of improved stormwater management practices, reconditioning of shoulders and ditches, up-sizing of culverts and armoring of drainage channels. The project will also increase visitor access, safety, and experience through the elimination of road hazards, improved guardrail, better signage and improved tunnel lighting.

At Fort Monroe National Monument, Sams visited with park staff at Old Point Comfort, a strategic location for defense since human inhabitance and during the American Civil War. Located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, these lands have a storied past including the 1619 African Landing and the 1861 Contraband Decision. A testament to the power in partnership, Director Sams began his tour at the Commonwealth owned and operated Fort Monroe Visitor & Education Center. The visitor center was recently renovated by the state as part of the 2019, 400 Years of African American History Commemoration. The Fort Monroe Authority (FMA) and NPS designed and developed the state-of-the-art exhibits chronicling the history of the Kecoughtan Indians, English Settlers, African Landing and the journey toward emancipation. Donnie Tuck, Mayor of the City of Hampton, discussed the importance of continued collaboration and the impact of cultural tourism on gateway cities and neighborhoods like the local Phoebus Historic District as the Chesapeake Bay Program supports water access and education activities at Fort Monroe in partnership with the James River Association.

During the tour, Sams met with Glenn Oder, Executive Director of the FMA and discussed the future location of the state funded $6 million African Landing Memorial. Central to the significance and interpretation of Fort Monroe, the memorial chronicles the making of America and the African American experience in a one-of-a-kind sculpture illustrating the landing of the first documented Africans in the Virginia Colony. The NPS continues to collaborate with descendant communities, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Association of African American Museums on best practices in interpreting international sites of enslavement. Designated a UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Site of Memory, Fort Monroe joins fifty sites around the world in remembrance, interpretation, and education providing national and international audiences with an opportunity to openly discuss globally shared history related to slavery, resistance, freedom and healing.

Director Sams also visited North Beach, part of the 565-acre National Historic Landmark and a key location for coastal resiliency scenario planning, active and passive recreation on the Chesapeake Bay and significant in interpreting lndigenous cultural landscapes. Area 4 of North Beach is a former United States Army landfill and subject of remediation of environmental contaminants and potential transfer of ownership to the NPS. The NPS recently conducted a rapid assessment of potential visitor uses for Area 4 to provide public input on desired conditions.

The visit closed at Werowocomoco, Director Sams met with staff from the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, Ancestral Land Corps interns and Tribal leaders. They discussed hopes for the future of the site and the current status of planning efforts. Werowocomoco, translated from the Virginia Algonquian language, means "place of leadership". In the late 1500s and early 1600s, Werowocomoco served as the capital of a network of Tribes led by or allied with the paramount Chief Powhatan, who resided there. It was at Werowocomoco that Powhatan received the newly arrived English leaders of the Jamestown colony. Native families had already used the site actively for 400 years and had constructed earthworks that marked Werowocomoco as a political and spiritual center. American Indian tribes in Virginia - the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Nansemond, Pamunkey, Rappahannock and Upper Mattaponi - have ancestral ties to Werowocomoco and a vested interest in its stewardship. Shoreline erosion and sea level rise accelerated by climate change pose a threat to Werowocomoco's irreplaceable and significant archeological resources.

Ongoing research and a cautious approach to protect the integrity of this historic ancestral homeland precede a plan to open the site to the public. Tribal youth are engaged through the Werowocomoco Ancestral Lands Corps Individual Placement program, a joint effort of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and Conservation Legacy. The program introduces Tribal youth participants to major aspects of national park operations. Placements train with staff from four disciplines at Colonial National Historical Park and then work with trail staff to apply new skills at and for Werowocomoco.

Director Sams engaged with staff from all parks during this trip and was honored to present several length of service awards and the 2020 Appleman Judd Lewis Regional Award for Excellence in Cultural Resources to the Werowocomoco Ancestral Land Corps Internship Program

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