Why I’m All for Parks: A Letter from Emily Moore, Executive Director, Cabrillo National Monument Foundation
I like to say that Cabrillo National Monument and I found each other long before I ever imagined leading this amazing organization.
All For Parks,
When I moved to San Diego in 2006, I only knew a few people. I had always loved national parks, so I quickly found my way to Cabrillo National Monument. It became a place I returned to often—not to be alone, but to be around people. Cabrillo gave me a sense of comfort and belonging at a time when I was still building a life in a new city. Long before I understood visitation numbers, economic impact, or the role a friends group plays in supporting a national park, I understood something much more personal: this place mattered. It mattered deeply to my own well-being, and I could feel that it mattered to others, too.
What I felt then was connection. Not just to the landscape, but to something much larger. To the people standing beside me. To the generations who had come before me. To the people who would one day visit after me. Looking back, I was feeling the vast, living web of connection that is the National Park System.
Over time, Cabrillo became the place I brought everyone who visited me—family, friends, and first-time visitors to San Diego. It was my way of saying: this place is special, and it needs to be shared. What I did not know then was that one day I would have the privilege of giving back to a park that had already given so much to me.
When I stepped into the role of the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation’s Executive Director eight years ago, I felt a deep responsibility to grow the organization, expand its impact, and help ensure that all visitors could experience and enjoy the park. That responsibility has been shaped and strengthened by close, ongoing relationships with friends group leaders and park partners across the country. We constantly share ideas, strategies, and lessons learned, all with the same goal: to make our parks extraordinary not just for today, but for the next generation.
Now, that sense of connection has deepened in the most meaningful way as I share this place with my daughter and watch her grow up at Cabrillo. Experiencing the park through her eyes—seeing her curiosity spark, her confidence grow, and her own relationship with this landscape take shape—has made Cabrillo even more sacred to me. What once was a place of personal grounding is now woven into our family story. The park is where memories are made across generations, where lessons about stewardship, history, and belonging are quietly passed along, and where the National Park System becomes not just something we support, but something we live.
Today, Cabrillo National Monument stands as a small but incredibly mighty urban national park, welcoming approximately one million visitors each year. For some, the park is an essential part of their physical and mental well-being—visited daily to hike the trails or enjoy a quiet moment of reflection. For others, it is where a first visit becomes a lasting connection, or where family traditions take root and are practiced year after year.
At the same time, many San Diegans have never visited, or have never even heard of, Cabrillo. That contrast continues to drive our work. It reminds us that stewardship is not only about preserving a place, but also about helping people discover that it belongs to them.
Leading the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation is deeply personal to me, but it is also a profound responsibility. It means caring for a place that has shaped my own life while helping ensure it remains meaningful for others. It means honoring Cabrillo’s legacy, investing in its future, and working every day to make sure more people feel the same sense of connection, belonging, and wonder that first drew me here. That is why I am all for parks: because these places have the power to shape us, connect us, and stay with us—and because they deserve all of us in return.
All For Parks,
Emily Moore
Executive Director, CNMF
