Carolyn Ward’s distinguished career has spanned three decades from field interpreter at Hungry Mother State Park to CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. She was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia, graduated from Emory and Henry College and received her Master’s degree and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in Forestry. She is a decorated professor and award-winning researcher and author whose life’s work has been dedicated to building bridges and making connections.
I was born in Southwest Virginia, which, according to my mom, is the center of the Universe. I spent my summer days exploring the ridges of our farm and listening to stories of the life and lore of the Blue Ridge from my dad. One of my most special memories was going on long drives and being so excited about what we would see around the next turn. Of those journeys, the Blue Ridge Parkway was one of my favorites.
When I grew up, I learned that the parkway was not just an ordinary road. It was part of the National Park Service. A unique national park that connects us all, a journey that binds us together. Traversing two states and 29 counties as it travels the length of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway links an enormous diversity of life from the rich arts, history and culture found in its neighboring communities to one of the largest collections of flora and fauna in the United States. More than just the largest landscape architecture construction project in the history of the United States, the Parkway is a journey connecting the lives, economies, and communities of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is not just an extraordinary experience laid across the spine of some of the oldest mountains in the world, but serves as an economic engine for the hundreds of mountain communities that dot its path from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Each year, more people visit the Blue Ridge Parkway than Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined. In 2020, more than 14 million people visited from across the globe.
A recent study indicates these visitors generate more than $1.3 billion of economic impact in communities adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and support 15,500 local jobs, more than any other park unit in the country. Despite its critical importance to life and livelihood in rural Appalachia, the Blue Ridge Parkway has suffered from budget shortfalls for years. With no entry fees, the parkway receives the budget equivalent of only about $1 per visitor to operate and maintain the 469 miles of the motor road, more than 360 miles of trails, 14 visitor centers, eight campgrounds and 91 historical buildings.
As the CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, I have worked to build partnerships with communities large and small, donors from across the country and those committed to making our park an even better place. Over the past 24 years, the Foundation’s Community of Stewards has provided more than $18 million in funding and support for the parkway, creating positive impacts for generations.
The mountains may physically divide the communities along the parkway but bind us together in deeper ways. There are economic, natural resource and cultural ties that link us all and by joining together and strengthening the connections that exist; we will all be stronger in health and wellness, in our economic stability and in our environmental and culture futures. We can better manage our resources if we are a collective. Together, we can ensure the future for our park, our communities and the mountains that link us as one.
The story above first appeared in our September / October 2021 issue.
