National Parks Traveler Episode 171 | Battling Politics In The Parks

By Kurt Repanshek - May 22nd, 2022

National Parks probably have never been entirely immune from political influences, whether they came out of Washington, D.C., or close to a park’s boundaries. But there’s an argument that can be made, one backed up by evidence, that the past 50 years have seen the most attempts to subvert the mission of the National Park Service to preserve and protect natural resources unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

This past week Kurt Repanshek, the editor of the National Parks Traveler, I had the oppoirtunity to sit down with Jon Jarvis, the 18th director of the National Park Service under President Obama, and his brother Destry, who has a long career tied to conservation and the national parks, to discuss their new book, National Parks Forever, 50 Years Of Fighting And A Case For Independence. In it they call for the National Park Service to be broken out of the Interior Department in a bid to reduce political interference on the agency.

You also can watch the webinar here.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode Intro with Kurt Repanshek
:54 The Road Scholar - Bill Mize - The Spirit of South Dakota
1:15 Washington’s National Park Fund
1:48 The Everglades Foundation
1:59 Eastern National Passport
2:42 Great Smoky Mountains Association
3:04 Jonathan and Destry Jarvis discuss their new book, National Parks Forever, with Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek
35:52 Amaranth - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains
35:59 Wild Tribute
36:25 Friends of Acadia
36:49 Interior Federal Credit Union
37:10 Yosemite Conservancy
37:34 Jonathan and Destry Jarvis continues their discussion of park interference in the park system with Editor Kurt Repanshek
1:12:01 Vista Verde - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons
1:12:49 Episode Closing
1:13:14 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
1:13:40 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
1:14:00 Potrero Group
1:14:27 Orange Tree Productions
1:14:58 Splitbeard Productions
1:15:09 National Parks Traveler footer

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Submitted by tahoma on May 29, 2022 - 12:25pm.

I don't think moving the Park Service out of the Interior Department would change it's management corruption much.

I'd like to see Mr. Jarvis invited back for another Webinar on the subject of his protege who he protected and promoted at Mount Rainier. Superintendent Dave Uberuaga exaggerated a 2007 flood emergency, closing the entire park for six months to complete his new Paradise visitor center, which was a year behind schedule and ten times over intial cost estimates.

He topped that by taking a six-figure bribe from a park concessionaire:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mount-rainier-park-ex-official...

Jarvis took Mr. U off that hot seat with a temporary Yosemite assignment, where he signed off on a 'controlled burn' that escaped bigtime. He was then promoted to Grand Canyon superintendent, where he presided over their long-running sexual harassment scandal until retiring with a fat SES pension.

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