"A Stewardship of Storytelling" by Melissa Fu

A view across Valle Grande toward History Grove and Pajarito Mountain.

NPS/Irene Owsley

Ahead of my residency at Valles Caldera, I thought a lot about the fact that the reason I’m able to be here is that this land is no longer privately owned. Like all of the properties under the aegis of the National Park Service, it is public land. We, the public, own the land in the sense that is it no longer in the hands of private individuals. But what does this kind of ownership mean? What is our relationship, as private individuals, to public lands?

Considering these questions, a word that keeps floating across my mind is stewardship. When I look up various definitions, the one I like best, from Merriam-Webster, tells me that stewardship is “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” I appreciate how the concepts of care and trust are folded into this interpretation. With this understanding of stewardship in mind, I consider the National Park Service mission statement: "The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” Holding these ideas side by side, it seems to me stewardship is an apt description of the NPS mission.

Six pencil sketches of Valles Caldera rangers and partners by 2024 artist-in-residence Rachel Black.

NPS/Rachel Black

As my residency progresses, I see this stewardship in action at Valles Caldera, in so many ways. I’m filled with both awe and appreciation for those who have dedicated their time and hearts to stewardship of public lands. Among those I meet are physical scientists, biological scientists, botanists, ecologists, rangers, trail workers, grounds and maintenance staff, archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, educators and an army of volunteers. The list goes on.

I also believe that, as members of the public, we all have a role to play in taking care of our lands. Even though we may not all hold jobs with the Park Service or Forest Service, none of us is absolved of the responsibility to be good stewards of the land. As I learn about each of the teams and crews working for the preservation and restoration of Valles Caldera, I find myself circling around the question: How can I, during my time as an Artist-in-Residence and beyond, contribute to the stewardship of Valles Caldera National Preserve? Eventually, a phrase settles in my notebooks and thoughts: the stewardship of storytelling. As a writer, I’m here to tell stories – the ones I remember, the ones I grew up with, the ones that I experience over my time here now. But the stewardship of storytelling goes beyond my own writing. It includes a mandate to listen to others’ stories of Valles Caldera. Stories of their connections to the land, what brought them here, why they stay, what they’ve learned, what they love.

I believe sharing stories is a potent way of honoring others’ experiences, of helping us understand perspectives beyond our own. Stories have a different kind of sticking power than statistics or facts. They can be witness to what no longer is, providing portals to other times, other values. They make it easier for us to grasp what is at stake. Stories are the building blocks of community.

And so, in the writing that follows, I offer my stewardship of storytelling. In some of the pieces, I tell stories rooted in a specific place (Valles Caldera, History Grove, Obsidian Valley, and Cerro La Jara). In others, I listen to and reflect on others’ stories (Nurturing a Land Ethic, and In the Eye of the Beholder). Ultimately, what I hope comes through is my conviction that we can all engage in a stewardship of storytelling, for we all have stories to tell and we all can enrich our worlds by listening.