Since 1996, more than 25,000 acres of land adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway have been protected forever from encroaching development.

Since 2000, nearly a quarter-million children -- many of whom will become the parents of future parkway visitors -- have been exposed to the parkway's grandeur and wonder.

But 54 out of 236 permanent staff positions on the Blue Ridge Parkway are vacant and likely to remain so.

Which picture does the public want to be a part of? The first two. And the third? Very unlikely.

Nearly 20 million visitors a year travel the Blue Ridge Parkway; for most, it is not their first visit. They had come before as children, with their parents.

Throughout the parkway's 71-year history, individuals and families have expressed both love and concern for the parkway. But today the parkway needs something more tangible.

It is time for those with discretionary means (time and/or money) to make a great personal gesture by actively becoming stewards of the nation's most visited national park site!

Buying a Blue Ridge Parkway license tag is a good beginning. Becoming an annual contributor is more sustaining.

The public has many investment options with qualified parkway partners. The Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust and High Country Conservancy buy land and conservation easements in view areas of the parkway. The Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway recruits and manages volunteer activities. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is the professional and primary fund-raising organization.

Parkway philanthropic organizations operate on the sound principle that charity must supplement federal money and programs -- not replace them. When the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation was established in 1997, an internal exercise among park staff was to record a perception of need that could be satisfied by the foundation's resources. Some of the items on the staff's "want list" were boom axes, back hoes, weed eaters and even additional staff members. Donated funds cannot pay a federal employee's permanent salary.

Clearly, this is where parkway philanthropy should not be directed. Instead, money from private donors has gone to support the parkway's education outreach program, which reaches more than 37,000 children annually. Private money also has been used to map all the parkway's views and to restore architectural elements of the historic Moses Cone country estate, Flat Top Manor. The foundation is currently in the quiet phase of a multimillion-dollar campaign to permanently endow the education outreach program -- the largest such national park program in the country.

The responsibility for park stewardship falls on the shoulders of many, including our congressional representatives, the park superintendent and the staff. It also rests with members of the public, who not only enjoy visiting the parkway but also provide the donations that will allow future generations to experience its scenic vistas.

The greatest progress in preserving the Blue Ridge Parkway will be made when North Carolina residents demand good stewardship of their park resources and make their backyard national park a personal investment priority.