Ethan Howes ’11 was a little kid playing Punch Buggy with his sister when his folks realized there was something different about how he perceived color. Tests confirmed colorblindness, a condition that affects 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women.
As a chief ranger at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Va., Howes decided to advocate for viewfinders that would allow colorblind guests to enjoy the breathtaking scenery, especially during colorful spring and fall seasons. His park became the first in the state to offer a viewfinder with EnChroma technology – and the rest of Virginia’s 43 state parks soon followed suit.
“Part of it was selfish because I wanted one,” he said, chuckling. “But I also knew Natural Tunnel would be a really cool spot. We are in the mountains, we have great color change in fall, and we have amazing wildflowers that pop up. So that was kind of the drive.”
Howes is no stranger to the magic of a state park experience. Before he joined the staff at Natural Tunnel, he completed AmeriCorps service stints at two other state parks in Virginia. While state parks offer something for everyone, certain views are much more special for visitors who can fully perceive color – whether that’s the rainbow swamp at First Landing State Park, the magenta rhododendrons at Grayson Highlands, or the kaleidoscope of autumn leaves at Natural Tunnel.
Howes’ career journey began at Roanoke College, where he earned a degree in history, helped found the golf club, and was active in Pi Kappa Phi. Part of what drew him to Roanoke from his hometown of Richmond were the Maroon threads woven through his family history. Howes’ grandfather, Cornelius Ramsey ’44, grew up at the Lutheran Children’s Home of the South, which is now Roanoke College’s Elizabeth Campus. Although Ramsey’s college experience was cut short by World War II, he enjoyed returning to Salem.
“Part of it was the connection with my grandfather,” Howes said. “He had passed by the time I moved to Elizabeth Campus, but whenever he went back for reunions and things at the orphanage, he always told me the floor in Liz Hall was the same as when he was there in the 40s. So that was a cool history thing, literally walking on the same floor that he used to walk on.”
Howes’ aunt, Cornelia (Ramsey) Deagle ’87, also attended Roanoke, and she’s now an assistant professor at Virginia Tech. So did Howes’ older sister, Emma Howes ’05, an assistant professor at Coastal Carolina University.
After graduation, Howes did state and national AmeriCorps service terms at False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach and Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, as well as a term with the United Way of Southeast Alaska, where he worked as a research and volunteer coordinator. In 2022, he was promoted to chief ranger of visitor experience at Natural Tunnel, whose crown jewel is an 850-foot tunnel that was carved out of the mountain by acidic water.
“The presence of a fault line also helped water get through and dissolve the dolomite that is there, basically causing a giant sinkhole to form and collapse down,” he explained. Railroad tracks have traversed the tunnel since 1890, with trains hauling coal from far Southwest Virginia. Those tracks remain active.
With breathtaking mountaintop views and hardwood forest framing limestone outcrops, Natural Tunnel is a prime spot for autumn leaf-peeping. But to a person with colorblindness, those jewel-toned golds, oranges and reds “look a bit duller,” Howes said.
After seeing a news story about Tennessee State Parks installing viewfinders for colorblind guests, Howes attended a statewide parks meeting where employees were asked to consider ways they could make their parks more inclusive. Leadership was supportive of the idea he presented, and the first viewfinder was soon installed at Natural Tunnel. The park service then used proceeds from its Round-Up for Parks Program, which allows visitors to round up the amount of their purchases, to buy the technology for its other parks.
Now colorblind visitors get a more inclusive – and more vivid – experience. One Natural Tunnel visitor described the viewfinders as “life-changing.”
Howes, who recently received a promotion to assistant park manager at Twin Lakes State Park in Prince Edward County, said he was surprised by the local media attention his project attracted. It has included stories by CNN and The New York Times. He also recently did a live virtual interview on Fox Weather and a segment that aired on both the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and NBC Streaming.
Howes is modest about the attention, saying that he didn’t expect one humble idea to blossom into a statewide initiative and a national story.
“It was a small thing to do,” he said, “but I realize that it has a bigger impact than I thought it would.”
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