THE LAST WORD--WALT DABNEY
Interviewing Walt Dabney is sort of like talking to a West Texas Rancher on the front porch of his ranch house. Ask a question and he will rock a bit, take a dip of Copenhagen, chew, ruminate, spitÑand answer. (He actually DID used to chew.)
Dabney is one of the authentic "Greenbloods of the NPS." He has been most everywhere in the Service, even the dread catacombs of DOI in DC. He has done and supervised most everything; climbing, law enforcement, fire, search and rescue, and most important, telling folks about parks and nature.
After a remarkable and challenging career in the NPS, he reembarked on what is perhaps an even more challenging career as Director of the Texas State Parks.
Along the trail, he has pick up a few trophies, among them: USDI Superior Service Award, USDI Meritorious Service Award, Secretary of the Interior Alaska National Interest Lands Award, Texas A & M Leslie M. Reid Alumni Award, and the Harry Yount Career Achievement Award, as well as some comments from those he met along the way:
"While in Yosemite Valley, Walt quickly turned into a darn good rock climber, certainly for a park ranger. Much better than I (or is it me?) He was agile, coordinated, and confident"
-- Butch Farabee, NPS Search & Rescue expert"Walt has as outgoing a personality as nearly anyone I've ever metÑpersonable, affable, truly interested in people, always engaging folks wherever he goes. He's not in the least checked by hostility, either. He'll go right at someone who's totally opposed to some issue Walt is supporting, and in 90% of the cases, will have the person turned around (fully or partially) within half an hour. He would have made one hell of a lobbyist!"
-- Bill Halainen. Editor, NPS MORNING REPORT"I have always admired Walt's ability to work under pressure...When Walt was the designated spokesperson for the NPS during the 1988 fires in Yellowstone, the Press and the politicians were absolutely frantic about what they called "the Let Burn Policy" and they were ready to take a bite out anyone in gray and green. Walt's calm demeanor, his patient explanation of fire ecology, and his soft Texas drawl, stood in stark contrast to our critic's over the top attacks on the NPS fire management program."
-- Rick Smith, superintendent"...Walt Dabney embodies all that is proper and outstanding in managing both natural and cultural resources..."
-- Robert Utley, NPS Chief Historian"When I look back on my NPS days, I'd have to rate Walt in the top 2 or 3 people I've worked with."
-- Don Castleberry, NPS regional director"Walt cares about all parks; local, state, and national. He believes in the American notion of parks as places for all people to rejuvenate their souls. He believes in the idea that people and the environment are meant to be together. He believes in preserving and protecting special places that are our public lands. He believes in the stewardship of public lands and the honor that goes with it. I know these things about Walt because that is the way he leads his life...I see what Walt does not as a work, but rather more like a quest. I am grateful Walt is here in Texas doing his job and I am more grateful to call him a friend."
-- Michael Massey, Texas Recreation and Parks Society
Now let's ask Ranger Dabney some questions:
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WALT, WERE YOU BORN AND RAISED IN TEXAS?
I was born in San Antonio, TX. in June of 1946 (29th) at Brook General Army Hospital. My dad had graduated from West Point in 1945, married and I was born a year later. We soon joined him in occupied Germany and were there until Jan. of 1948 when he was killed on a volunteer mission flying a P-47 Thunderbolt. Mom, little brother Ray and I were brought back to my Mom's home in Uvalde, Texas where we lived until she remarried in 1951 and we moved to San Antonio. I was the oldest of what eventually grew to nine siblings and a "brother" from Thailand and one from Japan who lived with us for years. Lots of "stray kids" brought home with different ones of us for sometimes extended stays, which never made any difference to Mom. DESCRIBE YOUR HOME TOWN I went K-6th grade in San Antonio. Had a great time, did not like school, played lots of baseball (fairly decent pitcher and 1st base). Mainly my interest was to get out of the city as much as possible and with my brother and cousin, get to Uvalde where we could be gone into the pasture chasing jack rabbits, shooting lots, building and firing homemade rockets and blowing up things with homemade gunpowder or at my granddad's ranch near Barksdale, Texas. We were my granddad's best buddies and he taught us the outdoors. He taught us to drive beginning when we were less than 10. I badly tore up his International pick up coming back from "working bees" with him sitting in the passenger side with me driving. After we pried the front fender off of the tire with a rock bar, so we could get home, he explained to my mother and aunt that he had wrecked the truck. They figured out that was not true and laid down the law that we boys were not to be driving at this age. He said "that's like telling a kid not to get in the water till he learns how to swim". He said, "ok", to them, winked at us and every time we left the house for the ranch, he would drive until we were out of sight of the house and pull over and whichever one of us whose "turn" it was, jumped into the front seat and off to the ranch we would go, often with him sound asleep in the passenger seat and the other two of us in the back of the pick up. An old Texas rancher, born in a tent in 1883, his stories inspired me to want to have my own adventures and stories some day. TEXAS IS KNOWN AS THE "WIDE OPEN SPACES" BUT IN REALITY, MORE OF TEXAS IS PRIVATELY OWNED THAN ANY OTHER STATE. WHAT CAUSED YOUR INTEREST IN PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT? Texas really is a challenge. It is 94-95% privately owned. Most of the public lands are the Texas coast line and lake surfaces. The total acreage in the State Park System is approximately 600,000 acres. I did not really appreciate the public land challenges in Texas until after I started working in federal land management in the parks. WHAT PROMPTED YOUR INTEREST IN TEXAS A & M, RATHER THAN SAY, THE UNIVIERSITY OF TEXAS? I actually went to a year of prep school in Washington DC trying to go to West Point. Finally got an alternate appointment, but never the primary. While there I spent a lot of time at the Australian Embassy, and with a friend decided that our plan would be to get engineering degrees and immigrate to Australia. My step dad (Great guy) had gone to A&M as had many of my uncles. So, off to A&M to become an Agricultural Engineer. That lasted one semester. I was in the Corps of Cadets, absolutely on the verge of being expelled because of my lack of academic performance, and was fortunate enough to get directed to a brand new major on campus called recreation and parks. I went to talk to Dr. Leslie Reid and we really hit it off. He took a chance on me, interceded with the Dean of Agriculture to give me one more chance, and here I am. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LONG HORN JOKE (Or, if you prefer, Aggie joke)? What do you call an Aggie who you work with? "Boss". (Just kidding, don't really track Aggie or Longhorn jokes.) Every time I ever needed a good joke for an event or presentation, I would have to call Roger Rudolph and get him to give me a good joke to use. Actually, this was difficult for Roger because he had trouble remembering them if they weren't dirty and I was generally needing something usable in mixed company. DID YOU WORK FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES DURING YOUR COLLEGE SUMMERS? I worked for the City of Bryan, Recreation and Parks Department as a swimming pool attendant and life guard (worked for Buddy Surles who became Director of Arkansas Parks and then later, Chief of Concessions for NPS), two summers for Texas State Parks as a park attendant at Inks Lake State Park, one summer as an intern with the City of Dallas Parks Department and my last semester (4.5 year plan), as a grounds keeper for the TAMU golf course. WAS THERE ANY PARTICULAR MENTOR, PROFESSOR, EXPERIENCE, OR BOOK THAT PUSHED YOU TOWARD A CAREER IN THE NPS? Not really. When I went into parks, I was not much of a park user. My granddad's ranch was a 1000 acres of as pretty a country as any Texas Hill Country park. In addition he took care of another larger ranch for an elderly aunt. That is where we went. I used some nearby city parks in the Dallas area, but almost no visits to state parks. We did go to see a few national parks areas with the family. While at A&M, Dr. Reid was very instrumental in exposing us to the variety of parks and eventually inviting the NPS down to recruit. IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR AT TEXAS A & M, YOU WENT DIRECTLY TO WORK WITH THE NPS AS A STUDENT TRAINEE AT YELLOWSTONE. COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STUDENT TRAINEE PROGRAM AND HOW YOU GAINED ADMISSION? I did not know what I was going to do with the parks degree, going into my senior year. A group of NPS employees led by an individual named Jack Pound and Ivan Parker came to the R&P Department to recruit for the NPS. Probably because of Dr. Reid's reputation. He had been on the original ORCC report working group. They picked six of us, including John Sheek (retired Mesa Verde), JT Reynolds (Superintendent at Death Valley), and I (the three who stayed for NPS careers) to become student trainees if we could pass the Federal Service Entrance Exam for Science and Engineering Trainees. Think I made an 80 and was offered a position at old Faithful at Yellowstone. When I got there, I was told that I would be a "naturalist". Hal Greenlee from CSU was the other trainee there and he went to the protection staff. The summer at Yellowstone was incredible and I was absolutely hooked on being an NPS ranger. I had year's worth of adventures in one summer there. THIS WAS AN INTERESTING PERIOD IN NPS HISTORY, WHEN THE AGENCY WAS CHANGING FROM A SUBJECT DISCIPLINE BASE SUCH AS "RANGER HISTORIAN" OR "RANGER NATURALIST" TO A MORE GENERAL "INTERPRETIVE SPECIALIST" AIMED AT PLEASING THE PUBLIC. SOME CRITICS SUCH AS ALSTON CHASE REGARDED THIS AS A "DUMBING DOWN" OF THE NPS MISSION. HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO THIS? Depends on the individual and how diligently they worked to be accurate and interesting. That was true whether you had a degree related to your specific subject or not. I think that if the oversight of the Interpretive program at a site or park was solid and the program focused, the quality of the information and presentations were high. If not, it was left to chance and personal interest. I think that the quality of interpretation is really a factor of a focused interpretive program and quality assurance oversight that is presenting the public with the important information relevant to the identified themes related to a given site in brochures, exhibits, signing, and walks and talks. I have seen outstanding and terrible throughout my career. And some of the worst and most unfocused, boring and irrelevant were from very well educated individuals with a background in natural science or history. ON A LIGHTER NOTE, WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BEAR OR VISITOR EXPERIENCE STORY IN YELLOWSTONE? One night I was riding patrol with my fellow "trainee", Hal Greenlee (eventually retired NPS at Gettysburg). We wanted to see some grizzlies up close, so we unlocked the gate at the then operating Rabbit Creek dump and drove in to the site in complete darkness. There were no bears present when we drove in and so we swung the old station wagon patrol car around to face the main dump and turned the lights off. The plan was to wait about 20 minutes and then turn the lights on and see bears. After about 15 minutes of talking very quietly with the windows up and the only light being the little green "on" light from the radio, I got an eerie feeling something was watching us in the dim glow and slowly turned to look out my passenger window. Filling virtually the whole window frame was the head of a huge grizzly and he was looking and sniffing. I whispered "Hal, slowly turn and look out my window". We both knew we were not supposed to be there and that the only thing between us and the bear was the window glass. It virtually had its nose on the window and its back was higher than the bottom of the window. As we whispered back and forth about how we start the car and get out of there without the bear taking the vehicle and us apart, the radio, which all of a sudden seemed to be at full volume, roared "311 Greenlee, 700 Alfa, 10-20"? Without another word Hal grabbed the key as I dived away from the window with my head virtually in his lap, the engine roared and he whipped it into gear and floored the accelerator. The car threw dirt in an arc. The window stayed in tact and we escaped from Rabbit Creek, shaking and stammering. We did not do that again and the encounter was inadvertently left off of the patrol log for that evening. WHO WERE SOME OF YOUR CONTEMPORARIES IN YELLOWSTONE AT THAT TIME? I really did not know them then, but Brady was in Mammoth, I think Rick Smith, Bob Johnson, Ross Rice, and Terry Pentilla were seasonals at Lake. We all later worked together in Yosemite. UPON GRADUATION FROM TEXAS A & M AND THE STUDENT TRAINEE PROGRAM YOU WERE MADE SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO FREEMAN TILDEN, ONE OF THE LEGENDS OF THE NPS. WHAT WERE YOUR DUTIES? I made the travel arrangements, carried the bags and did all of the logistics as we traveled many thousands of miles in a year. We boarded at the same place outside of Harpers Ferry and whether on the road or at the house" Small Comfort" where we had room and board, there was no television so we sat and talked about almost anything you could think of. Freeman expanded my involvement to where I was representing the NPS and to some degree him at some presentations. If we were talking to a group, especially of students, Freeman would excuse himself to the group by eight o'clock and say something like "I leave you in good hands with my colleague, Walt" and he would go to bed. On the road, at first I would leave Freeman in his room after getting whatever he needed for the night including supper, and I would head out to eat. Freeman's evening meal was Collegedale natural peanut butter, Waverly crackers, California black mission figs or dates, and milk. When first offered this, I told him no thanks, I needed to get some real food. Within a week, I tried it and ended up many nights joining him for supper, a post smoking of our pipes, and an evening of conversation. It was an amazing learning experience. Freeman was truly an "original thinker" as well as an incredible repository of acquired knowledge. I wrote evaluations of interpretive programs, exhibits, and wrote a column "Travels with Freeman", in the Interpretive Newsletter. I was a staff park ranger GS-5 at Harpers Ferry Center and worked on projects there for Doug Hubbard. I also gave tours of the center to visitors and helped at Mather Training Center as well as attended interpretive courses there. The year we were together, Freeman was 87 and I was 23. While we got on each others nerves occasionally, we became very good friends. I have never taken the opportunity or experience for granted and it seriously tempered who I was when we first got together. WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INTERPRETATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION? In addition to the above, our focus was "Who Am I". What can an individual do to make things better? One cannot fix all problems, but can do some serious good with their personal skills, knowledge and interest. So, pick something that you can do well and do it well. In interpretation, my main goal was that stated previously. You can waste a lot of opportunity and effort and time by not focusing the program to make sure that visitors or students get what is important for them to know and understand in the short time that you have them. WITH TILDEN'S MENTORING, YOU SEEMED DESTINED FOR A CAREER IN INTERPRETATION. WHAT CHANGED YOUR DIRECTION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROTECTION? I did not intend to abandon my interest and support for interpretation and those who have worked with me through the years including here in Texas will attest to that. We are seriously rebuilding the interpretive program in this system to a very strong and effective capability. But, I am a generalist. I like doing some of everything and not just focus on one aspect of the operation of parks. It is where my strength is if anywhere. While never great at anything, I like to be ok at lots of things. Some people are specialists, I am not. Some individuals, for example, like to do a certain activity or a couple of things very well. Like playing golf or fishing. I get bored. So, while I like to play golf, fish, hunt, kayak, shoot a bow, camp, mountain bike, work out, hike, I do not want to do any of them at the exclusion of the others, thus "master of none". I think I still use my interpretive skills in presentations (now Power Point) across this state and certainly in presenting training on a regular basis. Indeed, the skills of an interpreter are skills that can be used in everything you do and I think I use them a lot. YOUR FIRST FIELD ASSIGNMENT WAS YOSEMITE. WHO WERE YOUR MENTORS THERE? The mentors in Yosemite were Jack Morehead, Don Utterback, Lee Shackelton, and Jim Brady. Others that were a combination of mentor and colleague were Butch Farabee, Rick Smith, Dan Sholly, Roger Rudolph, Tony Anderson, Paul Henry, Glenn Kottcamp, Terry Pentilla, Mike Finley and Mark Forbes. At different times while always friends and colleagues, we mentored each other as needed. YOU SPENT FOUR YEARS AT YOSEMITE. WHAT WERE YOUR MOST VIVID EXPERIENCES? Really learned the ranger skills that were very new to me. Those included law enforcement, climbing and rescue, skiing, scuba diving, search, structural fire, wild land fire, bear management, criminal and tort investigation and supervision. Participated in many searches, rescues and body recoveries. Trapped, tranquilized, tagged, relocated many bears. Became a Captain in the Yosemite Fire Dept. and fought some huge fires including the tragic "barn fire". Made many physical arrests and conducted full spectrum of investigations from rape and homicide to disorderly conduct. Worked at the Badger Pass ski area and in the first aid shack. Yosemite Valley, beginning one year after the "summer riots of 1970" was probably the greatest training opportunity for a young ranger that there could have been. The experiences were not occasional they were literally daily and often numerous different types of experiences on a daily basis. YOSEMITE WAS FOLLOWED BY FOUR YEARS AT MOUNT RAINIER'S PARADISE DISTRICT RANGER. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF THAT POSITION? Major change from Yosemite, especially related to law enforcement. I was ready for a break from the full time enforcement requirements in the Valley. At Paradise, I was the district manager not the district ranger. It was great. Had responsibility for protection, resource management, interpretation and maintenance. We did lots of meadow restoration work, major search and rescue, significant emergency medical work, and climbing management. Just living and working at a site that is literally buried in the snow for most of the year was so different for a guy from Texas. Absolutely loved the harsh environment and the isolation. Especially in the winters. HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU CLIMB MOUNT RAINIER? I was on the mountain a lot. In fact, according to Superintendent Briggle, he felt that I was on the mountain entirely too much. Climbed many times to Camp Muir for projects. Was on the mountain regularly for rescues or searches, recoveries, training or gathering data for avalanche forecasting. Got weathered off on a number of attempts. I actually made the summit 10 times climbing on six different routes. The time I spent actually on Rainier was special. The harsher the conditions the more excited I was about the challenge. Coming out of a white-out condition with a team of rangers with our compass, altimeter and a shredded map, completely covered with rime ice, was one of the most exhilarating, surreal experiences I have had. (GPS would certainly reduce uncertainty today.) The ferocity of the wind and the almost loud rattle of graupel snow and sleet hitting your goggles made me feel like I could be on the moon. It was just you and the partners and you had to be able to take care of yourself. Was the best physical condition I have ever been in. The "mountain" is spiritual. Wish I could do it one more time. AFTER FOUR YEARS IN MOUNT RAINIER, YOU BECAME LAW ENFORCEMENT SPECIALIST AT GRAND TETON. WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR MORE INTERESTING CASES AT GRAND TETON? No cases were particularly memorable to me. We did work with the US Marshall's to affect the largest cocaine arrest in Wyoming history at that time and it occurred in GTNP. I worked with Wyoming Game and Fish wardens regularly on poaching and game cases. The most memorable part of that particular job was that I was a primary park representative to the town of Jackson and Teton Co. where I was also a deputy sheriff. My working relationship with the county attorney was very close and I would sit at the prosecution table with him and assist with cases. Also acted as the federal prosecutor in presenting cases before the US Magistrate misdemeanors. I was the President of the Teton County Peace Officers Assn. for one year and presided over our monthly meetings. While South District Ranger, we managed winter sports including the controversial snowmobiling in the" Potholes area", conducted the annual Teton Elk Reduction hunt, backcountry and winter sports management, climbing and SAR, backcountry poaching patrols, and a very active EMS program were all significant parts of the job. IN 1983, YOU BECAME CHIEF OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT EVERGLADES. THIS IS AKIN TO BEING PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN OF THE TITANIC AFTER IT HAS HIT THE ICEBURG. HOW COULD YOU MANAGE RESOURCES WHEN THE MAIN RESOURCE, WATER, HAS BEEN HI-JACKED BY GREEDHEAD DEVELOPERS AND AGRIBUSINESS OUTSIDE THE PARK? We still did lots of good resource management work. The natural flows to the Everglades still, to the day, have not been restored. That certainly did not mean that there was not legitimate and positive resource work to be accomplished. Everglades has the oldest prescribed fire program in the system. We burned extensively every year and certainly maintained natural systems with fire as much as possible. We worked to reduce exotic plant infestations with active efforts with a spectrum of success and failure. We had a very active program of oil and gas activity management in the Big Cypress Preserve that certainly mitigated the impacts of inevitable oil and gas production in that park. We also provided much of the raw fisheries data that was used to support elimination of commercial fishing from Florida Bay. So, while it will be a great day when the waters below Lake Okeechobee once again flow naturally, there is lots of important RM work that is and has been underway. IN 1986, YOU BECAME CHIEF RANGER OF THE NPS. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE ASSIGNMENT? This was a great assignment. Loved the opportunity to represent Rangers in WASO and making the Ranger Activities Division (RAD) full participants in the WASO operations. We completely rebuilt the RAD staff with rangers from the field. We worked extensively on ranger classification issues, 6c retirement, the fire program, and in raising the profile of the ranger profession in the national office. The Yellowstone fires of 1988 were a major project and I spent significant time in legislative hearings and on national media interviews related to those fires and fire management. I annually attended virtually every regional chief ranger meeting, superintendent's conference and NLC meetings doing presentations on ranger issues. We put the RAD staff back in uniform, full time. The mission of RAD was reflected on a sign we had made by the Yosemite sign shop. It reflected what we all truly believed. It read, "What have you done for parks today"? IN 1991, YOU ACCEPTED THE POSITION OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SOUTHEAST UTAH GROUP (CANYONLANDS AND ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, AND NATURAL BRIDGES AND HOVENWEEP NATIONAL MONUMENTS.) HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH THE ORV CROWD AND THE COUNTY RIGHTS FANATICS? Very openly and honestly, I think. Folks are still wrestling with at least my decision on Salt Creek in the Canyonlands Backcountry Management Plan, but it was a good decision at the time, I still think. (Long discussion). I also made controversial decisions related to banning personal water craft from the Green and Colorado Rivers, excluding llamas from use in Canyonlands, limiting new climbing routes, setting numbers of backcountry users and size of groups, closing some areas to public entry for scientific research purposes, arguing against the re-establishment of missile launches over Canyonlands from Green River (Wyo.), taking an official NPS position for the removal of the Atlas Tailings Pile (uranium), and closing several previously open areas to ORV use. I spent a great deal of time working on a project called the Canyonlands Completion that would take the park from approximately 337,000 ac to approximately 820,000 ac. It would utilize the topography and GIS to draw a map and boundary using the drainage basin and not straight surveyed lines to lay out a park boundary that actually would be logical to manage. Everyone in Utah including the Congressional delegation, county commissions, city councils, Utah legislature, the governor, and many other constituents knew the details of the plan. I still plan to see it happen one of these days. I was a founding member of the Canyon Country Partnership. This group included all federal and state land and resource managing agencies, four county commissions, and the governor's office. We talked through issues of mutual concern or individual concern, visited destinations in each other's domain and got to know each other as individuals. I had the advantage of taking them through Cataract Canyon on a two day Colorado River trip. While we did not always agree, we had a much better frame work to try to resolve or at least understand each other's perspectives. I actually had positive and relaxed relationships with most of the county commissioners although some of them often absolutely did not agree with my positions or proposals. YOU HAD SERVED IN MANY OF THE MOST DEMANDING JOBS IN THE NPS, EXCEPT, OF COURSE, DIRECTOR. WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED THAT POSITION? Never gave it much thought while in the NPS. I really loved what I was doing and had already been in DC for 5 years as Chief of RAD and for extended periods as acting Assoc. Director for Operations during that time. IF SO, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? Would have worked diligently with both parties in Congress and established a positive non-partisan relationship that was focused on what needs to happen to make the National Parks what they should be in all aspects for all of us today and for the future. Parks are not Democratic or Republican. They really represent who we are as Americans. Would have worked diligently on building the leadership of the NPS. Would have tried to recover a vibrant and robust seasonal work force and a serious park intern program. Would have tried to expand the use of parks for developing young conservationist by supporting partnerships with organizations like Americorps and SCA. And I would try to get a working partnership with the Outdoor Retailers of the country to develop a national program to get families back into the outdoors by teaching them as families' outdoor skills like camping. Lastly, I would want to work with the Congress to examine all of the units of the National Park System to see if boundaries could be adjusted to be more manageable. Many of these sites will eventually be an island in a sea of development. The boundaries should generally be topographic/hydrologic or based on the historic context of a period or date in history. If they are not sufficiently configured the challenges and conflicts associated with trying to protect an incomplete park whose boundary is not manageable will simply increase. WHAT PROMPTED THE JUMP TO DIRECTOR OF THE TEXAS STATE PARKS? I had no interest in leaving NPS. Texas Parks and Wildlife had contacted me in 1996 about coming back to Texas and taking the director position. I told them "No" and thought no more about it. In 1999, I was again contacted and the compelling rationale they made was to bring 32 years of park experience back to my home state to help the state park system. So, here I am and it has been a real challenge and opportunity to do some important things. TEXAS RANKS 49TH OUT OF 50 IN STATE PARK EXPENDITURES. TEXANS ARE REPUTED TO STRONGLY FAVOR PRIVATE PROPERTY. DID YOU FEEL YOU COULD CHANGE THAT ATTITUDE? We are making significant progress in improving state park funding. The 80th Texas legislature provided major increased funding to restore over 200 positions, adequate operating dollars to pay the bills and purchase needed supplies and material, significant funding to begin replacing worn out equipment and a large increase in minor repair funding to do routine repair projects. The voters just approved additional bond funds to further address major repair needs. There still needs to be additional funding in future years for major repair and land acquisition and development of new facilities on existing and any new park land. HOW MANY TEXAS STATE PARKS ARE THERE? There are currently 111 state parks and 108 are open and operating. HOW MANY ARE HISTORIC SITES? There are 34 historic sites; however, the legislature has made a decision to transfer 18 of those sites to the Texas Historical Commission on January 1, 2008. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE ALAMO IS THE CROWN JEWEL OF TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL PARKS? The Alamo is a major Texas Historic Site, but it has always been operated by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution and is not a unit of the state park system. They do a great job. However, San Jacinto Battlefield is one of the most important battle sites, ever. In 18 minutes of fighting in April of 1836, General Santa Anna and his Mexican Army, who had wiped out the Texians at the Alamo, Goliad etc. were soundly routed and hundreds killed with the loss of less than ten of the Texians. The lands won from Mexico that day included present day Texas, and all are parts of 6 other states reaching almost to the southern boundary of what is now Yellowstone. This was an addition of land that was part of the Texas Republic and became the US, on a scale similar to the Louisiana or Alaska Purchase. HAS YOUR AGENCY MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO ANNEX THE ALAMO? No and do not intend to. It works very well now. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEXAS STATE PARK AND A TEXAS NATURAL AREA? The State Park is generally much more significantly developed with such things as full service campgrounds with water and electricity. An SNA does not have those amenities. Basic camping or walk in camping of a much more basic nature. Road systems and support facilities are much more limited. IN 1993, THE TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED A LANDMARK TAX ON SPORTING GOODS TO SUPPORT THE TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT. THIS TAX TAKES IN AROUND $100 MILLION ANNUALLY. ALONG WITH PARK REVENUES, THIS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO RUN THE PARKS AND EVEN EXPAND THE SYSTEM. YET THE PARK SYSTEM IS ALMOST BROKE. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? The tax on sporting goods is not a separate tax. It is an estimate (Texas Comptroller) on the portion of the general sales tax that is generated by the sale of a variety of products that are used in state parks or local parks. The estimated amount of that tax for 2008 is $112 million. The cap on the amount of that tax provided to Texas Parks and Wildlife for operation of state parks and to award matching grants to build and develop local parks has been $32 million. Whatever the amount that would be "dedicated" to Texas State Parks from these "sporting goods sale tax receipts" still must be appropriated by each legislature for use or the accumulating balances cannot be used. THE AVERAGE AGE ON YOUR FLEET OF 900 VEHICLES IS TEN YEARS. THIS MEANS THAT SOME OF THEM SHOULD BE IN A MUSEUM RATHER THAN ON DUTY! HOW DO YOU COPE? This has and continues to be a significant challenge for us. We have a back log of about $30 million in equipment replacement needs including vehicles, tractors, large mowers etc. We are trying to replace the worst first. We should have available approximately $4 million each year of this bi-annum to replace equipment. We need to have this replacement fund continue indefinitely so that we replace at the end of a piece of equipment's useful life. We spend too much time broken down and parting out non functioning equipment to keep some operating. Very frustrating and a real waste of time and repair funds. RECENTLY YOU VISITED INKS LAKE STATE PARK AND WERE AMAZED TO FIND THAT THE REST ROOMS YOU CLEANED AS AN INTERN IN THE 1960'S WERE STILL IN USE! WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A MAINTENANCE BACKLOG? We have a large maintenance back log but when the approved bond funding is released, we will be able to make additional significant improvements in park infrastructure. The Inks Lake bathrooms that I cleaned in the 60's are scheduled for replacement. THERE HAS BEEN AN EFFORT TO GET INDIVIDUALS AND FOUNDATIONS TO PURCHASE AND DONATE LAND TO THE STATE PARKS. YET THE LEGISLATURE HAS TRIED TO SELL SOME OF THE PARKS. ISN'T THAT COUNTER PRODUCTIVE? We have had individuals donate lands for parks or for additions to parks. I think that has the chance to increase in the future. It is not an accurate statement that the legislature has tried to sell some parks. This has not occurred and I do not believe that it would. ONE OF THE MORE CONTROVERSIAL PLANS TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE STATE PARKS IS CALLED "THE ENTREPRENURAL RIDER" THIS, WE ARE TOLD "IS A USEFUL INCENTIVE TO PARK STAFF AND IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN OPERATING THE STATE PARK IN A BUSINESS LIKE MANNER" COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ENTREPRENURAL RIDER? We are not fully pursuing this approach. It had been an effort to use every means to try to raise additional funds for parks. It really resulted in the "nickel and dime" approach and many efforts were really a waste of staff time and poor for customer service. We are focusing on improving our facilities, programs, and having a well developed fee program and business plan for each site. Our revenues as a percentage of budget have been very high. The business plan with revenue projections will be good incentive. ON THE OTHER HAND, GOVERNMENT CANYON NATURAL AREA OUTSIDE SAN ANTONIO IS REGARDED AS A NATIONAL MODEL FOR PRESERVING AN ENVIRONMENT BY USING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RESOURCES. COULD YOU ELABORATE? Government Canyon is an excellent example of working with a number of partners including the City of San Antonio, San Antonio Water System, The Trust for Public Lands, Texas Parks and Wildlife and others to bring this park to nearly 10,000 acres 30 minutes from down town San Antonio. Pooling resources for a commonly beneficial goal is a real plus. IS THERE A MASTER PLAN OR WISH LIST FOR FUTURE STATE PARKS? There is a strategic plan for Texas Parks and Wildlife that call for the addition of additional acreage and elimination of inholdings in many existing parks and for the establishment of a minimum of four new state parks. The new parks would be within 90 miles of the Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, or Austin-San Antonio areas and would be a minimum of 5,000 ac. ALONG WITH JIM BRADY AND YOUR CHIEF RANGER, DAN SHOLLY, YOU HAVE PUT TOGETHER AN INNOVATIVE TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR YOUR STAFF. COULD YOU HIT SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS? We have developed a very fine Superintendent's Training Course that we call Managing Park Operations. We have had nine two week sessions and put well over two hundred employees through this very intense session. Class goes from 8a until 10p most nights. Brady and Sholly have both been completely involved in all of these sessions. We have made a major commitment to training. In addition, we have done major personnel management and in my honest opinion I have the best senior staff of regional directors, program managers, and superintendents (collectively) that I have ever worked with. They have for years kept this system operating under conditions of staffing and resource shortages that I never saw in my NPS career. No body ever has all the resources they could use to do a great job. These folks have made do without having even the basic needs met year after year and their attitudes through it all are inspirational. We are now finally getting resources and if that success continues, this group of folks will take this Texas System to a level the people of this state will be proud to see. WITH ALL THE STRESS, WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX? I do try to work out. Love to mountain bike and kayak (sit on top). Kayak fishing on Texas rivers and in the coastal marshes is outstanding. I hunt almost exclusively now with a longbow or recurve traditional bow. Occasionally get to camp, hunt, and play golf. The most unrelaxing thing about playing golf is when I get stuck playing with Sholly and having to listen to non stop bs. Those of you who have ever done anything with Sholly that he can turn into competition know what I mean. WHERE DID YOU MEET YOUR WIFE? In 1979, Bob Howard, Cherry Payne and I snowmobiled from the South entrance of Yellowstone to attend a "going away" party for Roger Rudolph at Canyon Village. (I believe he was going to Acadia). It was a great party and I met an attractive young woman by the name of Carey Scofield, who worked as a tour guide for Yellowstone Park Company, YACC councilor and seasonal NPS interpreter. Although I failed to convince her that I was about the most accomplished and dashing young ranger she could possibly meet, she did agree to come down to Jackson to go dancing. The second date was more problematic. I nearly got her killed. We were climbing Mount Moran via the Skillet glacier. Unfortunately, she was not a climber and fell repeatedly as I arrested her descent as she slid to the end of the rope. She really was hurting and I figured it was all over. The third date, a raft trip on the Snake River from Moran to Moose was a much more controlled experience. I then left as a member of the 1979 Alaska Ranger Task Force for several months. We got married at Old Faithful Geyser the following summer. HAVE YOUR CHILDREN CONSIDERED CAREERS IN PARK MANAGEMENT? We have two great daughters, Alexis (Alex) 22, and Robyn, 19. Alex is a senior and vice president of the student body at Texas State University and is studying "Mass Communications" Robyn is a sophomore at Texas A & M, majoring in Wildlife & Fisheries with a Recreation and Parks minor. She is a starter on the TAMU women's Lacrosse team (Texas state champions) both of them are doing well academically, which they get from their mother. Don't know whether either will do anything related to parks. They would have to make that choice. They will certainly use parks whatever they do. WHAT DO YOU PLAN FOR YOUR THIRD CAREER? Not planning on a third career. I do plan to retire one of these days in the next couple of years and go do lots of things that I can't get to now. Including spending significant time as a park visitor. Still have a vision to spend time in the Moab, Utah area working on the "park completion project". My paramount goal now, which has been shared with all of the state park employees, is to leave here one of these days, and it make absolutely no difference that I am gone. WALT, IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TALKING WITH YOU! Mine as well |
THE CIRCULAR FILE
Where is Edward Abbey buried?
Well, I don't know, neighbors. That mystery is known only to a few pall bearers who carried his remains into the Desert Mountains in great secrecy.
We do know the probable cause of Abbey's death, however.
In all probability he was crushed under an avalanche of junk mail.
I speak from experience. I know.
Like Edward Abbey, I believe in the First and Second Amendments and therefore have held membership in both the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association.
Like Edward Abbey, I also joined several environmental organizations.
Like Edward Abbey, I had no idea these outfits would sell their mailing lists to other like minded organizations.
Membership in the ACLU and the NRA virtually guarantees you will be on the list of every crank organization of both the right and left ends of the political spectrum. If you join one environmental or do-gooder organization, you will soon find yourself an object of admiration and desire by every fern fondler and polar bear protector on earth..
At the beginning of the Computer Age, it was widely predicted that America would become reforested as there would be no demand for paper as every written thing from newspapers to love letters would arrive mysteriously and ephemerally from cyberspace, leaving every tree in the forest.
The predictors had not reckoned on the creativity of the professional fund raiser. My sturdy mail person still arrives every day, his/her bag over flowing with junk mail.
There is, for example the solicitation from the Conspiracy on Nutrition (CON) with the haunting picture of an African child with distended belly and saucer eyes, holding an empty food bowl.
Beneath the photo is the stark comment: "Unless you donate generously to CON today, little Nkomo will be dead tomorrow. Do you really want to think about that over dinner?'
Well, yes I do. I am thinking that if I don't get my donation in, the president of CON may not be able to take his secretary-mistress with him on his "fact finding" trip to Paris to discuss Third World malnutrition, or that a junk mail copy writer might be out of a job.
I am thinking that CON is a good candidate for the Circular file.
Then of course there are the environmental solicitations.
Ah! Here is the Urgent (and they are always Urgent) letter from the Society for the Conservation of Air and Megafauna (SCAM).
SCAM'S expensively printed brochure and apocalyptic letter from its Executive Director tells us that SCAM is the Thin Green Line that stands between the Bush Administration and the destruction of the Environment.
Without SCAM, Dick Cheney will suck all the oxygen out of the air, while "Dubya" drowns the last Polar Bear as Jeb makes a throw rug out of the remaining Pandas. Do you want that to happen? Well, no.
There is always a "hard hitting and toughly worded" petition that you are supposed to sign and SCAM will pass it on to the frightened Bush Administration. (Makes 'em cry all the way to the Haliburton office!)
However, there is apparently still time to enjoy life. Incongruously, if you send SCAM an "Earth Steward donation" (that is above a certain minimum) you will get a day pack, telescoping alpenstock and a DVD of Swiss yodeling lessons.
If you were to act on your suspicions, you would find them not unwarranted. You would find that the Executive Director of SCAM pulls down a six figure income, something normally not available to you unless you are getting a crushingly large chunk of fire overtime.
Then there are the "perks" of the job. The SCAM brochure boasts that their Board of Directors are not "DC Desk Jockeys." No Sir! They are out in the field, manfully (or womanfully) undertaking White water rafting trips in the Southwest and Safaris in Africa.
Now the working class might describe these events as "paid vacations", but no! They are fact finding missions of the gravest import! Then there are the black tie dinners than one must attend in Washington. SCAM does this so you don't have to.
Am I exaggerating? Not really. Substitute the names of many charity and environmental solicitations for CON and SCAM, and you would have a pretty accurate inventory of your mailbox contents.
But Nkomo and his plight are real. So is the threat to the environment from the Bush Administration and other pestilential scourges. So what to do?
Americans are a kindly, soft hearted bunch. We are among the most generous or may well be the most generous of the world's people. Every disaster and cause raises millions of dollars from Americans. However, Americans' altruism is often subverted. Hardly a year goes by without some newspaper editor sending out reporters to solicit donations for "The Widow and Orphans of the Unknown Soldier" to demonstrate how Americans can be soft headed as well as soft hearted.
On a less humorous note, The American Red Cross is perennially in the news for various acts of malfeasance. The Nature Conservancy, Big Green, and richly endowed, was investigated by the WASHINGTON POST for various irregularities involving sweetheart deals with staff and board members.
What Americans do not realize is that fund raising, per se, is not illegal in itself.
That is, the noble FUND FOR THE PRESERVATION AND ENRICHMENT OF PJ RYAN is perfectly legal as long as the fund does what it claims to do (And I assure you, friends, that every dollar you donate will be scrupulously spent on me and me alone!) and of course, I pay the requisite state and federal taxes.
In the real world, fund raisers can legally get by with only 1% of the take going to the Worthy Cause.
So, who do you trust?
Fortunately, neighbors, much of the research has been done for you.
Just as you can check out the ratings of that major appliance or automobile you were planning to buy in the appropriate issue of CONSUMER REPORTS, there are also some consumer watch dogs that look out for the Philanthropic donor.
The largest of these watch dogs is Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) which evaluates some 5,000 of the largest charities. Charity Navigator, according to the WASHINGTON POST deals mainly with the financial health of the charity. A charity that is efficient at money grubbing may not, however, be exactly what you had in mind. Indeed, Charity Navigator's Vice President in charge of marketing, is quoted as saying "It is up to the donor to check out the charity"
One watchdog that sort of does the checking is my favorite, The American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org).
They have an elaborate grading system, which I am sure many charities consider unfair or biased. AIP, however, is not extreme in its judgment, regarding $35 or less administrative cost to raise $100 as not excessive. (Less is preferred, of course!)
Some of the grading is surprising. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the more pompous, self worshipping groups that claim to stand between us and a Bush dictatorship, gets only a gentleman's C+ in the AIP rating, reinforcing my instinct to toss their begging letter in the circular file.
On the environmental front, Defenders of Wildlife are apparently better at fund raising than wildlife defending, rating a D from AIP.
The Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace Inc., National Parks Conservation Association, National Parks Trust and The Wilderness Society are given a not very impressive grade of C- to C+ in December, 2007 issue of the AIP guide.
On the other hand, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, The Nature Conservancy (apparently reformed) The Trust for Public Land, The Rainforest Alliance, Earth Island Institute and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation all scored in the A to A- range
The only Environmental outfit to merit an A+ from AIP is an organization called, somewhat starkly, The Conservation Fund. Ironically, they are one of the few crews that have NOT bothered me with a begging letter. I see I will have to get in touch with them.
Another environmental organization not yet evaluated by AIP, but enthusiastically endorsed by THUNDERBEAR is an uncompromising grassroots group called WILD WILDERNESS (www.wildwilderness.org). Its job is to do the job that the Wilderness Society and other top of the food chain environmental groups are supposed to do, but usually don't. The executive director, Scott Silver (ssilver@wildwilderness.org) possesses a formidable search engine and has researched many of the topics and issues that concern you and can even tell you which environmental groups are "cooperating" with which anti-environmental groups.
The neat thing about Silver is that if you ask him a straight question, you will get a straight answer (unlike mainstream outfits which will provide you with paragraphs of bullshit platitudes along with a final paragraph asking for money.)
WILD WILDERNESS could, incidentally, use a donation. They stretch your environmental buck about as far as it will go without being printed on latex.
The address is WILD WILDERNESS, 248 Wilmington Avenue, Bend, OR 97701
HAPPY PHILANTHROPY!
THE MANY TASKS OF MARY BOMAR
Does God want you to be happy?
Not necessarily.
Does the National Park Service want you to be happy?
No particular evidence of that either, neighbors.
You see, happiness is neither a Divine nor a bureaucratic requirement.
The concept of "happiness" is an American idea as in "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" as enshrined in the Founding Document.
As far as God and the National Park Service are concerned, "happiness" is optional; if you choose to be happy or unhappy, well, that is your choice and is of no particular concern of either the Deity or the Agency. God and the NPS simply want you to get with the program and remain on mission. Both God and the NPS promise you an eventual reward if you follow the rules and get your reports in on time.
"Happiness" as noted, is optional.
Indeed, the NPS attitude toward employee happiness led to the creation of THUNDERBEAR many years ago.
Your kindly editor was the park historian at John Muir National Historic Site when, along with the rest of the employees of the National Park Service, he received a memo from the Director of the Service William (Bill) Whelan. The gist of the memo stated that..."Employees have been turning down transfers on the grounds that they want to be happy. This is an unacceptable reason."
I must admit I was dumbstartled by the logic. I pondered the memo and realized that there was a niche to be filled. No one ever replies to these open ended government memo which seem to cry out for some sort of response. There was in short, no commentary from the field.
It was obvious (at least to me) that Director Whelan wanted some sort of response. So THUNDERBEAR was born as a periodical commentary on the actions or inactions of NPS management, as well as the nature of the Universe as explained by the Great Bear. (In all fairness to Whelan, he later became a devout subscriber to THUNDERBEAR),
Many years and a number of Directors later, we find ourselves led by Mary Bomar, a charming British lady with a delightful "Home Counties" accent. (That's the BBC announcer accent that makes the rest of us sound dumber and cruder than George Bush on one of his bad days.)
Now it is true that Ms Bomar was appointed by George W. Bush, arguably the worst president ever to infest the office: Even U.S. Grant had a better environmental record. With an endorsement from Bush, Ms Bomar doesn't need enemies.
So is she cut from the same environmental sack cloth as the man who appointed her?
Well no. Unlike her controversial predecessor, Ms Bomar is not an "outsider", but a career NPS employee, and a rather successful one at that, having risen through the ranks to the position of regional director.
It is true that she is a reasonably devout Republican, which is sort of a requirement for the job of NPS Director under a Republican Administration. However, she seems to come from the environmentally sensitive "Bullmoose" wing of the GOP rather than the far more numerous "Greedhead" wing as represented by the Cheney-Bush junta.
In addition, Ms Bomar was mentored and advised during much of her career by none other than the formidable John Cook, one of the very, very few liberal Democrats to rise to the Senior Executive ranks of the NPS, so it is unlikely that she will be environmentally destructive.
Finally, unless the Democrats are able to snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory (always a possibility!), Ms Bomar is a lame duck. She will want to return to the field with her reputation intact, having made no major enemies either in the NPS or in the Environmental Community at the blessed end of the Bush Regency. This understandable goal should cause Ms Bomar to err on the side of preservation rather than the side of corporate greed.
Thus, one can state with guarded confidence that Ms Bomar will do no harm.
But will Mary Bomar do any good?
Now that is an interesting question, neighbors.
As Bill Clinton famously asked for a definition of "Is," we must ask for a definition of "Good."
"Good," of course, will be defined differently by Environmentalists and Greedhead Republicans.
Environmentalists would like to see a fully funded NPS that did not charge entry fees and that was expanded to preserve and protect a hefty representative sample of every ecosystem with as much wilderness in each unit as possible, as well as commemoration of every major historical event and trend in the history of our nation. That would be "Good" according to Environmentalists.
However, "Good," according to Greedhead Republicans as represented by the American Recreation Coalition and its moles within the Department of Interior, would be best served as lots of mechanized recreation on land and water, little true wilderness and "camper" defined as a $100,000 motor home rather than a guy or gal with a tent, and the parks well on the way to privatization as envisioned by Grover Norquist.
The astute observer will see that Mary Bomar must steer a prudent course between the Environmental "Good" and Greedhead "Good" if she wants to keep her job and her professional reputation.
So what can she do without getting fired or crucified?
Well, now, she could simply run out the clock by doing a good job in the day to day running of the parks, fulfilling the bureaucratic maxim of former Director Newton Drury: "First and Foremost, do no harm."
That would be the safe way. However, most agency directors want to leave some sort of legacy; something left behind (and not easily removed) that they can point to with pride as their accomplishment(s).
One accomplishment would be the acquisition of a national headquarters building for the NPS. The agency deserves more than a few rented floors in a commercial office building. The structure should be on the Mall in Visitor Country. The logical building would be the impressive South Interior Building, now inhabited by the Office of Surface Mining. Granted, the building would have to undergo an exorcism to rid it of the evil spirit of J. Steven Griles, one of the more recent arch criminals of the DOI. (The displaced Office of Surface Mining can be relocated in the now abandoned St. Elizabeth's Asylum.)
Another accomplishment would be the designation of the Rock River National Historic River. The Rock River was a stream beloved by President Reagan, who life-guarded on its banks. The river figured prominently in the development of American agribusiness (John Deere's birth place is also on the Rock River) as are numerous state parks. This would be a bi-partisan issue and something Illinois Senator Barack Obama could get behind. Such a designation would add impetus to the National rivers program throughout the nation.
Another non- controversial project would be an Outward Bound Program for Politicians. At present, foreign leaders meet with the President in Washington DC, a rather sterile, artificial environment. Ms Bomar could suggest some of the larger, iconic National Parks as venue for week long raft trips or horseback treks for the president and foreign heads of state. Even such intransigent problems as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute might not seem so intractable around a campfire in the bottom of Grand Canyon after a day crashing through the rapids. This would allow the Present Incumbent to burnish his somewhat tarnished environmental reputation and provide the precedent for Future Incumbents to do Wilderness diplomacy (Kyoto campfire, anyone?).
Finally, we get to the hard, daring stuff. Ms Bomar could take concrete steps to improve the morale of the NPS, which, if certain studies are to be believed, is currently lower than whale dung.
Sacrilege! Who dares speak such heresy?
Well, among others, The Institute for the Study of Public Policy at American University and The Partnership for Public Service, the Hays Research Group, and the magazine US News & World Report.
These folks have gotten together to rank federal agencies on the happiness of their inmates. That is, a number of factors considered, is the agency a pleasant place to work?
They examined and ranked 220 federal agencies on the happiness (or at least job satisfaction) of the employees.
The Happiest Federal Agency, number one in employee joy, is (No surprise here, neighbors!) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
You see, the folks at the FMCS are, by their job description, required to work at making everybody, including, presumably themselves, happy and content.
The least happy federal agency is (again, no surprise) is the U.S. Holocaust Museum. The task of documenting and describing the deaths of more than 6 million innocent people is, to put it mildly a disturbing, depressing task.
So, where does the National Park Service rank in happiness among the 220 federal agencies?
Well, according to the study, the NPS comes in at 160.
Looking at the bright side, this means that are 60 agencies that are WORSE than the NPS in employee job satisfaction.
However, there are 159 agencies that do BETTER by their employees than does the NPS.
The NPS is beaten by every federal land management agency; even the Bureau of Land Management does slightly better (157), The US Forest Service comes in at 143, while the US Fish & Wildlife Service achieves a very respectable 80.
Strangely enough, the Bureau of Prisons ranks at 67 in employee job satisfaction.
Now neighbors, this raises the interesting question: Is it intrinsically more satisfying to be a Federal Prison guard than a park ranger?
The answer is No.
The explanation for the vast happiness gulf between the Bureau of Prisons and the National Park Service is that of Job Expectations and Support.
Men and women who apply for the position of Federal Prison Guard are grimly aware of the nature of the work. They realize from day one that their "clients" and "guests" are some of the most dangerous men and women in America and who are constantly plotting against them. To survive against such constant and cunning foes, the guards must both feel and actually have the full support of management and their colleagues. This is apparently the case.
This does not appear to be the case in the NPS.
NPS employees do not always trust their supervisors or even their co-workers.
This may come as a shock to the American public which regards a position with the NPS as sort of Civil Service Nirvana, like living permanently on Mockingbird Hill "Where there is Peace and Good Will."
One can imagine that it came as an even greater shock to the NPS employees who have (at least initially) much more romantic job expectations than the grim realists of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Now the NPS employee understood that ranger work could be physically demanding, exhausting and even deadly (that was the romance of the job) and that dealing with the public could be difficult or onerous and the pay was not all that good, some of it coming in the form of sunsets and mountain mornings; the employee understood and accepted that.
What shocked a measurable number of NPS was the stark feeling that they could not trust their supervisors or co-workers.
"She had long arms", remarked one superintendent to your editor, discussing a colleague.
What he meant was that the lady could look you in the eye, smile beatifically--and reach around to stab you in the back.
Apparently, the arrow that brought down the Bison was the arrest and conviction of a highly placed NPS law enforcement ranger who used her position to steal government funds. She is at the moment awaiting sentencing in January.
An outraged long time critic of NPS management and former superintendent of Denali National Park, Clay Cunningham, suggested that your editor might like to check out the blog of the Washington Examiner, a muck raking DC publication for comments on the case not examined by the NEW YORK TIMES or the WASHINGTON POST.
I typed in http://www.examiner.com/a1022136~NPS_official_pleads_guilty.html#articleComments and the results were most interesting. Although the letter writers certainly did not absolve the ranger of her crime, they mainly attacked NPS management and culture for providing a climate in which incompetence and corruption could flourish.
One retired Chief Ranger e- mailed your kindly editor an equally sulpherous denunciation of NPS management: ...."The truth is that for every capable, talented, reliable person of character in the NPS, there are ten inept, dysfunctional, or dishonest employees who must be dragged along, worked around, or immense amounts of time must be spent in dealing with them. Hiring standards make it impossible to use common sense when building staffs and are entirely counterproductive. People must be hired that if you owned or were running your own business, you would not dream of hiring in a million years. Individuals are routinely placed in leadership positions who are neither mentally or emotionally healthy. It's not the work but the desire for power and control that drives them. They possess no true and solid leadership characteristics and are usually placed because the cowardly agency fears not placing them. I knew (the ranger) personally and my experience with her was entirely positive. I was shocked and deeply saddened and disappointed to hear what happened. However, and in no way excusing her because she knew better, I know at least half dozen superintendents right now who are committing far more illegal acts that what she did. They get away with it because they have the finely-honed agency-backed power to eliminate opponents (i.e. anyone on their staffs with eyes, ears, courage and integrity.) God help the unsuspecting public who trust this agency."
Now neighbors, I think it would be fair to say we have a problem.
Is it Mary Bomar's fault?
Of course not!
Aha! So it's George Bush's fault!
Nope, NPS dry rot is one of the few things that cannot be totally pinned on the Bush Administration (though it is not exactly an innocent bystander).The problem has been building for decades through many Administrations, Democrat and Republican.
The process of NPS dry rot or "Toxic management" has been going on for years and will take years to remedy.
So what is the remedy? Well I don't know. That would be Mary's final task, should she decide to accept it, of raising NPS morale to at least the level of Federal prison guards.
Perhaps you may have some suggestions?
WE ERRORED
It is never a pleasure to admit making a mistake, particularly when one is a prestigeous Journal of Record like THUNDERBEAR that millions depend upon for factual information
Wishful thinking led to sloppy reporting on our part, leading to the false statement in issue # 273 that Big Bend National Park did NOT charge an entry fee. It turns out that Big Bend has been charging an entry fee for some 20 years. Nothing secret about it:
An alert reader at Big Bend informed us of our error.
So what caused the error? After all, a significant number of NPS units DO charge an entry fee. What made us think that Big Bend was an exception?
Faulty memory plays a part. I have visited Big Bend a number of times in the last 20 years and cannot recall being asked for money or a Golden Eagle.
Then there is the aforementioned wishful thinking. If we want something to be true and if we wish hard enough, then maybe, it will be true.
Your kindly editor had WANTED Big Bend to be fee free (along with the rest of the NPS units) and had read somewhere that there had been populist resistance to the charging of an entrance fee at Big Bend when the park was established This may have been true, but the resistance had not been successful and there definitely was a fee.
Now the astute reader will detect a certain similarity between your Esteemed Editor and President Bush. Both of us were guilty of making statements that were monumentally incorrect. In the case of the President it was the belief that (A) Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction and (B) that the Iraqi people wanted to be liberated by the Americans.
Now does this mean that Your Editor is as dumb as George Bush?
No.
First of all, Bush is not stupid. He is certainly willful, stubborn, and perhaps a tad contrary, but he is not stupid. (Observers will note that Bush has adroitly outmaneuvered Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic majority Congress. Granted that Reid and Pelosi are not the sharpest tools in the fire cache, it still speaks well of Bush's coyote sagacity as a politician.)
On the other hand, after receiving Intelligence from Big Bend National Park from a ranger on site, that yes, indeed, Big Bend National Park DOES charge an entrance fee, I am willing to accept the thought that I might have been wrong and that there is a high degree of probability that there IS an entrance fee at Big Bend.
Our President, made of sterner stuff than I, is able to persist in the belief in the immanent Iranian atom bomb in the face of his own intelligence services. I reckon that his confidence in the face of evidence to the contrary is why we keep him around.
THE SAFETY MESSAGE
Ah! What you have been earnestly and innocently searching for, neighbors! The Monthly Safety Message, which makes it not only legal, but praiseworthy for you to wade through the somewhat abrasive and partisan comments on the Present Administration.
This particular Safety Message will deal with back management.
Now neighbors, those who have back trouble know that it is God's Introduction to Instant Old Age, no matter what your chronological age happens to be.
What causes back problems? Well, there's genetics, bad luck, and the aforementioned God, but there is also poor ergonomics.
I was reminded of this when I was reading a fascinating ethnography called DANGER, DUTY AND DISILLUSION; THE WORLD VIEW OF LOS ANGELES POLICE OFFICERS by the anthropologist Dr. Joan Barker.
Before we discuss poor ergonomics and bad backs, I should introduce Dr. Barker. She was a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California and was searching for a doctoral thesis topic. Sadly enough, most of the world's primitive tribes had been already used up; located, measured, interviewed, and cataloged by tireless ethnographers, shortly before becoming "assimilated" or extinct.
So what to study? Suddenly, it occurred to Ms Barker that she had an exotic tribe in her own backyard that had never been studied by anthropologists! What tribe?
That would be the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD are a closely knit, secretive tribe of around 10,000 hunter-gatherers living in the Los Angeles Basin. (Hunter-Gatherers? Yup! they hunt criminals and gather evidence!)
Members of the LAPD tribe are extremely suspicious of "outsiders" and therefore it is very difficult to penetrate their culture. However, Ms Barker taught anthropology and one of her students, a policeman, invited her to a cop bar.
"From the first contact with these officers, I was hooked. They were interesting, their stories were fascinating and much of what I learned was totally unexpected and new to me."
She decided to study the LAPD as a tribe and write ethnography.
(Now neighbors, I should point out that professor Barker's inquiries were facilitated by the fact that she was drop dead beautiful, a stereotypical Southern California BlondeÑand single: The police were most interested in talking to herÑthough she occasionally had problems keeping them on track--at least her track!)
One evening, one of her LAPD invited her to take a ride with him on his motorcycle.
Six months later they were married.
She was now a member of the tribe and her research was much easier.
One of the surprising things she discovered in her research was that LAPD members were not so much concerned about being shot (which is a rather rare event even in LA) as they were about being crippled or disabled by chronic back problems.
According to Barker "In terms of punishing police equipment, the Sam Browne (gun belt) is undoubtedly the worst offender...The entire Sam Browne, fully loaded weighs a minimum of 15 pounds and is often considerably heavier. It is heavy, bulky and can easily cause permanent back injury and nerve damage. It makes sitting and running difficult and often painful...Every officer interviewed with at least seven years of working the streets reported back pain attributed directly to wearing a Sam Browne or to other injuries failing to heal properly because wearing the belt prevents full recovery.
As direct result of these collective injuries, their recreational patterns may be curtailed because they cannot physically do some of the things they used to do. These are men and women of about thirty years of age who are physically oriented and consider themselves to be athletic."
Your kindly editor asked an old buddy, Mike Stafford, formerly of the Martinez, California, police department and now Public Safety Coordinator for the Oregon Criminal Justice commission, and like many an ex-street cop, a recipient of back problems, if he believed the duty belt had anything to do with his ailments.
Mike replied that several physicians he had talked to said that the wide belt influenced the development of hernias because of the pressure of the belt on the lower abdomen while sitting (driving).
Mike also noted that in his father's day (His father was an LA county sheriff's deputy.) the belt was a real "Sam Browne" belt; that is, it had a diagonal leather strap running from the gun belt itself diagonally across the chest, over the shoulder and connecting to the back of the belt. If kept snug, this arrangement would take some of the weight off the lower back
So, neighbors. Do NPS law enforcement rangers carry the same potential for chronic back problem as their LAPD cousins in the wearing of the duty belt?
Well I don't know neighbors. I asked Butch Farabee and he very kindly said he would inquire around among some of his old Chief Ranger buddies to see if they found it a problem. They are of an age when the slings and arrows of outrageous ergonomics are beginning to catch up with them.
The duty belt may be an occupational hazard; then again it may not be a problem.
If it is a health and safety issue, what to do? Law enforcement cannot declare unilateral disarmament in the hope that the bad guys will also have a fear of lower back injuries.
One solution avenue would be to ask Dr. Barker. After all, she had written the book on the LAPD, chronic back ailments, and all. Her husband had happily retired from the LAPD and therefore had nothing to fear from any criticism of Administrative approach to chronic back injuries.
(My wife, the anthropologist, Dr. Joan Rubin, was a friend of Dr. Barker, and attended her wedding. The Joining of the LAPD and the Anthro Department of UCLA in Holy Matrimony was one of those only-in -Southern California events. One side of the church was filled with cops, the other side by Ivory Tower eggheads. The wedding dinner was pot luck with the PD bringing among other things, a six foot long submarine sandwich. The groom in tux and bride in flowing wedding gown departed for their new home on a Harley, with the bride in a side car, escorted by LAPD motorcycles. The marriage proved to be a long and happy one.)
So, through the magic of e-mail, I asked Professor Barker, what if anything the LAPD was doing to solve the problem of the Sam Browne gun belt back syndrome and we are awaiting her answer.
Butch Farabee will get back to me on his findings, and if you have an opinion or anecdote on the ergonomics of gun belts, we will publish them in a future SAFETY MESSAGE.