Poking fun at the seemingly lethargic federal government is easy to do. The practice almost reaches a national pastime level.

But, occasionally, between the outlandish stories of government spending gone amok comes a great example of how our great nation still excels in many, many things.

Champion among the many federal institutions — especially in our city — is the National Park Service. Although many of us think the NPS moves too slowly, their careful, methodical movements provide a surety of purpose and a resolute determination to get things correct. Sometimes that takes a while.

The NPS is nearly finished with a three-year site study of what is arguably one of America’s more ugly chapters — the Forks of the Road slavery market site in Natchez.

But the gut-wrenching horrors that occurred at the site approximately 150 years ago make it incredibly important that its story be told as accurately and with as much care as possible.

The NPS boundary study was to determine if the Forks of the Road site was suitable for inclusion into the Natchez National Historical Park.

Although a few loose ends of the study still need to be tied up, the results show that the Forks site is suitable for inclusion into the NNHP.

We are thrilled the NPS may eventually have responsibility for the Forks site. That’s important because with that slow, methodical care comes the assurance that the site will be preserved, protected and celebrated for decades and decades to come.