Parks nominee called tops
Jarvis, who worked through ranks, is said to value resources, understand visitor needs.
Jonathan Jarvis
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
July 15, 2009
Conservationists and National Park Service veterans alike have hailed President Barack Obama’s pick for Park Service director as a visionary who will protect resources while reaching out to a younger generation.
Obama announced the nomination of Jonathan Jarvis on Friday.
Over his 30-year career, Jarvis worked his way up the ranks from a seasonal ranger to director of the agency’s Pacific West Region. If confirmed, Jarvis would follow Bush appointee Mary Bomar.
The nomination comes as the Park Service faces challenges that include a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog and operational budget shortfalls. Divisive issues such as the appropriate role of snowmobiles in Yellowstone and the regulation of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon also face him.
Jarvis has recently made headlines for his support of Point Reyes National Seashore, where he backed a decision not to renew a license, set to expire in 2012, for an oyster farm. Jarvis made the call despite drawing the ire of Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Jarvis also recently warned California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that the Park Service could take over six California state parks after Schwarzenegger threatened to close 220 of them because of budget shortfalls. Jarvis has also spoken out against solar developments on Bureau of Land Management land on the grounds those developments would affect Park Service water resources.
Jarvis’ supporters say the issues don’t mar his reputation but instead show his commitment to standing up for public resources. Mike Tollefson, a former superintendent of Yosemite National Park and current president of The Yosemite Fund, worked with Jarvis for 20 years and called his nomination “a great thing for the Park Service.”
“You have to know where to stand your ground in defending the parks and defending the rights of visitors and also be open to new and innovative ideas,” Tollefson said. “When I was superintendent of Yosemite and he was regional director, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in in-depth conversations with him on things that were not easy.”
“Jon comes from a resource management background, and he understands that having good science is what really makes the park successful,” Tollefson said.
Jarvis is suited to bring the Park Service into the 21st century, having a dedication to prying young Americans from their “electronic safety nets” and get them outside, Tollefson said. “He wants the visitor to be a part of where the parks are headed,” he said. “I think that’s a really good thing.”
Former Yellowstone Superintendent Bob Barbee called Jarvis “an inspired choice.” Jarvis worked under Barbee at Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park in Alaska.
“I can’t think of anybody, frankly, better to do the job,” Barbee said in a telephone interview from Montana. “It’s been a long time coming to get somebody with that kind of a background to run the service.”
Barbee pointed to Jarvis’ attempts to make parks in the Pacific West Region carbon neutral as an example of his dedication to protecting resources.
“I would imagine that he’s certainly going to be looking at a more green operation,” Barbee said. “We have to do better.”
Barbee said with issues such as snowmobiles in Yellowstone, Jarvis will likely “come down on the side of the resource.”
Jarvis’ experience, as well as his reputation for speaking his mind, should allow him to navigate the political climate of Washington, according to Barbee. Jarvis was one of the only Park Service officials to criticize a Bush administration plan to steer the Park Service away from its historical mission of resource protection and toward the commercialization of park resources and motorized recreational opportunities.
“He’s no shrinking violet,” Barbee said. “He’s up-front and will be an advocate for the parks in every way, including getting funding.”
Jarvis has a good reputation among Park Service employees, Barbee said.
“I’m sure that the employees who know him are cheered by the appointment, because he cares greatly about the people that run the national parks,” he said.
Jarvis’s selection will sit well with Park Service employees, said Rick Smith, a member of the Coalition of Park Service Retirees.
“The Park Service morale was lower than squid shit at the bottom of the ocean during the Bush Administration,” he said.
Jarvis’s nomination “has got to warm everybody’s heart who is working in the Park Service,” Smith said. “He started his career as a seasonal ranger, so he’s seen life from all different levels in the Park Service.”
Smith also praised Jarvis’ dedication to science, pointing out that he was president of the George Wright Society, an association of Park Service researchers and resource managers.
“You don’t get to be president of an organization like that unless the members believe that you carry their torch,” he said. “We’re coming out of an 18-year period when management of resources wasn’t a high priority. I think Jon will work to restore resource management to its rightful place.”
Smith said Jarvis’s speaking out despite opposition from superiors “takes a lot of courage.”
“He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about things he considered to be important for the park system,” Smith said. “It’s a good selection. He’s a good guy; that’s the bottom line.”
John Freemuth, a writer who specializes in Park Service policy met Jarvis at Craters of the Moon National Park in Idaho.
“He kind of personifies where the agency is going into the future,” Freemuth said. “He is a trained biologist. He brings this perspective that allows him to protect park resources while still acknowledging that parks are there to be visited. He’s trained in that perspective more than any director they’ve ever had.”
“It’s an appointment of competence,” Freemuth continued.
Like Tollefson, Freemuth said Jarvis will make an effort to reach out to young people.
“Younger folks aren’t as interested in nature,” he said. “Jon’s pretty aware that this generation is a challenge.”
Tim Stevens, Northern Rockies regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, also praised the nomination.
“Our national park heritage will certainly benefit from his leadership,” said Stevens, who said Jarvis will face tests with both snowmobiles and bison in Yellowstone. “The decisions that are made for those two issues are going to set precedents for the rest of the park system.”
Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, cited Jarvis’ unwillingness to back down under political pressure.
“He is refreshingly candid,” Ruch said. “He is pushing back within the Interior [Department] family.”
