Park director touts Recovery Act, rescue
New Intermountain Region head Wessels ‘a good match,’ says Jarvis.
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
July 28, 2010
National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis yesterday praised the Grand Teton National Park rangers who rescued 16 climbers last week and said Recovery Act funds were being used to fix park infrastructure in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton and elsewhere.
Jarvis made the comments in an exclusive telephone interview from Big Sky, Mont., during a trip to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park with Vice President Joe Biden. The trip was used to trumpet the $750 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and $140 million in Federal Highway Administration funds that the Obama administration allocated for the National Park Service.
Grand Teton received $18.8 million in Recovery Act funds for projects such as the Moose headquarters rehabilitation project. Yellowstone received $11.5 million for projects including the Madison wastewater project. Those totals do not include highway funds, some of which were also part of the Recovery Act funding.
“[Administration officials] wanted to get the money out and into the economy,” said Jarvis. “We’ve done a very good job in the park system.”
Jarvis said 92 percent of the money given to parks has been “obligated,” meaning the projects are under contract or under construction. “They are mobilizing, and there is a lot of working going on on the ground, and the money is flowing,” he said.
The money is especially needed for park infrastructure, which has languished under previous administrations.
“A lot of infrastructure in the park system is old,” Jarvis said, explaining that some buildings and utilities date back as far as the 1930s. “We’re in the process of upgrading it, making it more efficient and environmentally sensitive ... those kinds of things.”
Jarvis said the July 21 rescue effort in Grand Teton “shows what we do best.”
During his time as superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park, Jarvis said, he was involved in a number of search and rescue operations.
“I followed [the July 21 rescue] pretty closely as it was unfolding,” he said. “That [rescue] ranks right up there in, certainly, the number of people and [the number of times] using the short-haul technique.”
“We, in this country, unfortunately take these things for granted,” Jarvis continued. “That takes extraordinary skill and training and support to do something like that. All of that is embodied in the professional ranger ranks there at [Grand] Teton. It was unfortunate for the one individual that we did lose.”
Jarvis said he would continue the Park Service tradition of releasing the names of accident victims involved in search and rescue operations and other incidents in national parks.
“I have just become aware that there has been some debate about it,” he said. “Our history and tradition has been to release those names.
“Periodically, we run into the desire of people not to release those names, particularly if it’s an embarrassing rescue,” Jarvis continued. “I don’t think there is any real reason to withhold them.”
Regarding snowmobiles in Yellowstone, Jarvis said the primary goal is a sustainable decision that gives winter use in the park some predictability.
“The key to that is the best science, the best public involvement process and the best analysis of those comments,” he said. “The [winter use] team came back to Washington, and we walked through the alternatives in detail. We’ve adequately framed the issue with some interesting alternatives.”
John Wessels, whom Jarvis appointed as Intermountain Region director on Monday, is “a really, really smart guy” who “likes people,” Jarvis said.
“I know John fairly well and have seen him in action,” he said. “He’s very well-respected among the superintendents in the field. He comes in with a deep knowledge of the Intermountain Region. I think he’ll be a good match.”
Wessels most recently served as Grand Teton interim superintendent while superintendent Mary Gibson Scott filled in as interim Intermountain Region director.
Overall, the future looks bright for the National Park Service, Jarvis said.
“The [Recovery Act] projects have been a really nice boost,” he said. “Visitation in the parks is up.
“I think that [Ken] Burns’ film sort of reminded Americans of this incredible thing,” Jarvis continued. “Probably more important is the economy. People are not going to Europe or to tropical islands.”
Vice President Biden told Jarvis that he remembers coming to Yellowstone National Park with his children, and now Biden is bringing his grandchildren to the park to continue the tradition.
“It’s great to see people reaffirming their love affair with the national park system,” Jarvis said.
