The audacity to believe

 “The audacity!”

I can only imagine that was King George III’s reaction when he heard that those thirteen pesky colonies across the pond formally declared independence. 

And audacious it was. So much so that our “Independence Day” here in the US celebrates not the day we actually achieved independence, but the day we declared it. 

How completely American. 

You see, in the first half of 1776, we had already been battling the British for over a year but for many colonists at the time, the fight was about maintaining rights as British subjects, not necessarily as independent countrymen. In June of that year, Richard Henry Lee proposed “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

Oh, the audacity.

On July 2, 1776 the Continental Congress approved the resolution declaring the colonies independent from Britain. Some at the time, John Adams included, believed that would be the great American anniversary. But nay, government works slowly. And even revolutions require paperwork. So it took a couple more days to settle on the wording Congress ultimately approved on July 4. 

“The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America…”

Source

We’ve been celebrating July 4 as Independence Day ever since.

Simply declaring a thing doesn’t make it so. The Declaration of Independence was simply a piece of paper. A letter of intent, you might say. 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”

We still had to fight. And win. That, it turns out, would take seven more years. It wasn’t until 1783 and the Treaty of Paris when Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States. 

Next week, we will celebrate what we Americans claim is our 250th Anniversary. Britain might say it’s only 243. 

Oh, the audacity. 

How completely American to celebrate the day we declared something, not necessarily the day it actually came to be. As if there was any chance of a different outcome of the Revolution. 

I see parallels in my own work. Not that I’m starting a revolution or anything. But I like the idea that simply declaring something all but makes it so. This very morning, I had a meeting about Burlington’s riverfront and could almost see it: Big Muddy’s resurrected as an interpretive center and restaurant, better boat ramps, and a new park stretching south of the Auditorium. The kind of big, audacious dreams that are worth fighting for. 

But then…

The flooding. The expense. The logistics. The…[insert reason not to try here].

I’ve grown almost immune to such thoughts and comments as of late. It’s like saying, “You know, that independence idea is pretty cool, but you really can’t do that because of the British…”

In 1776, we declared independence. Then we fought and earned it. 

In the 1960’s, my predecessors declared there would be a comprehensive outdoor recreation park in the middle of the county complete with a 170+ acre lake, campgrounds, trails and more fun to be had than one family could squeeze into a single weekend. 

Oh, the audacity!

We have newspaper clippings in our archives documenting some of the many challenges that generations of park leaders faced along the way. And yet they fought. And fought. 

In 2008, Big Hollow Lake was completed. In the time it’s taken me to pen this column, I’ve fielded five phone calls from people asking about campsite availability at the park. The place will welcome around 70,000 visitors this year. 

Audacity indeed. 

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, Iowans declared their fidelity to parks and natural resources when 63 percent of voters elected to write the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund into the state’s constitution. Using 3/8 of a penny of sales tax, the fund today would generate over $250 million annually for water and soil quality programs, wildlife habitat, parks, and outdoor recreation assets across the state – an order of magnitude greater than any funding source that’s ever existed here. 

Giving Iowans that voice at the ballot box was a seven-year process, with no certainty of success. 

Again, the audacity!

But now, going on 16 years later, the fund still sits empty. Funding it requires the legislature to increase the sales tax. And no administration since 2010 has chosen to do so. Meanwhile, Iowa’s water quality declines while cancer rates rise. Public lands are attacked politically while park funding decreases. 

Our revolution wages on. 

Independence wasn't won on July 4. It was declared. The winning came later. Sometimes the most important step toward achieving something is having the audacity to believe it can be done.

I, for one, continue to believe. In great parks. In clean water. In the natural world. And in the people willing to fight the battles in statehouses, courthouses, and city halls to connect us to it.

Audacious? Maybe.

American? Definitely.