Barack Obama's choice to head National Parks receives wide support

by Rich Bowden - Jul 14 2009, 06:24

U.S. President Barack Obama's choice of Jon Jarvis to lead the National Park Service has received wide praise.

An employee of the NPS for over thirty years, Jarvis has served as superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park in Ashford, Washington and superintendent of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, among other appointments.

In a distinguished career Jarvis has been the superintendent of Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve in Copper Center, Alaska which saw much negotiation with both native and rural communities.

President of the National Parks Conservation Association Tom Kiernan said, "He is well-versed in the threats to our natural and cultural treasures, and the leadership, collaboration, and cooperation needed to restore them."

"Jarvis fully understands the detrimental effect on the park system of long-standing federal funding shortfalls, the importance of science-based decisions, and the threats posed by climate change, chronic air pollution, inappropriate development, and the inability of the Park Service to acquire priority lands from willing sellers within park boundaries."

"He appreciates the role of national parks as living classrooms for visitors and schoolchildren, and embraces the opportunity to enlist Americans from all walks of life in the restoration of their shared heritage in time for the 2016 centennial of the Park Service," said Kiernan.

Jarvis has testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, saying he believed adapting to climate change was a major priority.

"Our national park units can serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, a place where we can monitor and document ecosystem change without many of the stressors that are found on other public lands," he said.

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