Todd Wilkinson has a good article on Jarvis, the new director of the National Parks System. Long To-Do List for New U.S. Parks Chief. By Todd Wilkinson, Christian Science Monitor. This is the first consolidated article on Jarvis I have seen.
As a regional director in the Park Service, Jarvis opposed the Bush Administration. He is also the first biologist to the Parks chief.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
Sitting here in Yellowstone, I can think of a few things for Mr. Jarvis to do here:
1. Make this place more visitor friendly by reducing the armament of the Enforcement Rangers. They pull up to intimidate park visitors with an automatic assault rifle and a shotgun visibly sitting next to them in their vehicles. They carry semi-automatic pistols, Tazers, and pepper spray and and sometimes an attitude to match. They use the built in loud speakers in their vehicles to shout at families trying to enjoy Yellowstone and to chase animals away from the roads so that visitors can’t see them. They are armed like they think all of the visitors here are planning on bombing Old Faithful. I can understand why you (Mr. Jarvis and family) didn’t want any enforcement rangers with you when you climbed half-dome ridge. (I have found the interpretive rangers and gate personel in Yellowstone to be very courteous and helpful)
2. Start treating the wildlife here in Yellowstone with some respect. The animals are shot at with rubber bullets, bean bags and cracker shells. If they (wolves) kill something near the road, rangers or wolf researchers routinely take their food away and haul it off. They are chased to exhaustion with helicopters, darted with dangerous drugs and collared with hideous radio collars. The collars are then used by park employees (a certain half-time bio-aide with a bright yellow car and antenna comes to mind), to locate the animals for canned viewing tours (Yellowstone Association buses and others) which make money for the Yellowstone Administration at the expense of the collared wildlife. (wolves are the main victims).
Everything from red foxes to bison are equipped with these intrusive radio collars here in Yellowstone.
I have recently watched members of the Druid Wolf Pack scratching at the mange mites hidden under their radio collars. They look pathetic with most of their hair missing. I am sure most of them have sores around their necks from the scratching. Stop this abuse Mr. Jarvis!
3. Dismiss park employees who use their government supplied vehicles and equipment for their personal use. (A calendar I purchased here in the park with photos taken by three members of the Yellowstone Wolf Project in their government supplied helicopters and airplanes is one example: YELLOWSTONE WOLVES 2010, produced by http://www.hawksaw.net ) They gave no credit to the NPS for the use of these photos. Fire them MR. Jarvis!
4. Consider replacing the Superintendent as soon as possible and getting some common sense practices put back into this place. You will make park visitors and park personel much happier.
Larry,
We’ve been over the calendar issue before. You can get the same photos too. If they refuse, you’ve got a real issue.
Ralph,
The only issue with the calenders, is the improper credit being given as they are NPS photos and the actual picture taker is not to be credited, the NPS is…..
Under copyright law, using a public domain photo without crediting the proper federal entity, imply endorsement in the photographers, which is illegal per the public domain laws and usage statutes..
I understand this calendar has been thoroughly checked out for legality. People are always trying to get folks on the wolf project fired.
I’m sensitive to this because of those Idaho politicians and the Blue Ribbon Coalition who assumed that if I used a computer it must be a university compute. They kept going after me. Fuck them all!