Silver Falls National Park? I think not.

I heard this item on the radio yesterday and then saw it again in the newspaper this morning. State Representative Fred Girod of Stayton wants to make Silver Falls a National Park.

I was born and raised in Silverton and consequently had the pleasure of having this, the largest State Park in Oregon, in my back yard. The Park covers more than 9,000 acres with more than ten water falls, lush evergreen forests, and deep canyons. There are camp sites, cabins, a horse camp, and a conference center nestled in the woods. Certainly one of the best parks in the state. Even now that I live in the city, I find my way down to the park at least once a year. The canyon trail loop at Silver Falls is perhaps my favorite hike (run) in the Northwest, especially at off-peak times, or at least early in the morning when the crowd hasn't surfaced. Silver Falls State Park brings in more than $800,000 a year for the Oregon State Parks system and is reported to have one million visitors annually.

All of that said, making it a National Park is not only a bad idea, but a waste of time and money. Obviously Silver Falls is one of the crown jewels of the state, but it doesn't bear any National significance, nor could the park handle any major increase in attendance that a National Park moniker might bring.

Becky's family has been holding their family reunion at Silver Falls for nearly a decade now in the height of summer, and while we are there in the peak season I have noticed numerous problems that all of those people bring. Perhaps this sounds like a hometown boy who wants to keep the Park to himself, but this is just my observation that the park is already operating beyond it's real capacity. Perhaps Representative Girod wants to draw more people into the park during the winter months, but the Park needs this rest to recover from over-use in the summer.

Crater Lake is the only National Park in the State of Oregon, and it is certainly deserving of this distinction. It is the deepest lake in the United States, and one of the deepest lakes in the world. It is majestic and awe inspiring. It is everything you imagine when thinking of a NATIONAL park: Big and breath taking, nearly beyond expression.

Just take a moment and think of other National Parks: Yellowstone, Olympic, Yosemite, Redwood, Grand Canyon. All of these are part of the National culture. All of these have national significance. Silver Falls is beautiful. It is splendid. It is peaceful and inspiring. It is regionally significant, but it is NOT a National Park. It never will be.

Interestingly, there have been two other attempts to take Silver Falls national, in 1926 and again in 1935. Add the year 2008 to years in which the request was rejected.