It’s a palette of flora and fauna that Mather aptly gushed about, and one that deserves the brand of “national park.” To Chicago and northwest Indiana, the Dunes have for decades been that getaway from urban bustle and grit, a sandy oasis alongside the cool blue of one of America’s Great Lakes. Making the Dunes a national park has the potential to bring more of America to this oasis. It’s what the National Park Service’s first director envisioned, and it’s what the current director should embrace.