You are here

OIG: National Park Service's Northeast Regional Director Committed Travel Fraud

Share

Michael Caldwell, the Northeast Region director of the National Park Service, has been reassigned while Park Service Director Jon Jarvis reviews allegations that he committed fraud in filing travel vouchers/NPS

A regional director for the National Park Service, desiring "nicer" experiences on his travels, ran up nearly $11,500 in personal travel that he billed the Park Service for, and also collected nearly $6,000 in pay and per diem on some of these travels while not working, according to the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General.

Between 2011 and 2015, Michael A. Caldwell, the agency's Northeast Regional director, rented bigger vehicles than he should have to bring friends on some of his travels, covered lodging costs of personal guests, was reimbursed for mileage "that he never drove," rented an SUV for "an official trip two days before his official business was scheduled to start," and also "spent a day driving the SUV 450 miles out of the way for unofficial purposes," the OIG's report said.

"Caldwell admitted during his interviews that he had taken these trips and that he had knowingly violated federal travel regulations. He said that in doing so he had taken advantage of his official positions, first as a GS-15 deputy regional director and then as a member of the Senior Executive Service. He said he deserved, at minimum, a suspension," the OIG's report released Thursday said, adding that the case had been submitted to Park Service Director Jon Jarvis for disposition.

The case report didn't indicate whether Mr. Caldwell made restitution. But in the seven-page report (attached below) he was very forthcoming in admitting to the allegations made against him, stating that his travel vouchers had been "tainted and fraudulent.”

More so, he told the investigators that "he had arranged his official travel to suit his personal travel plans. He admitted that he was not trying to save the government money on his trips and was instead trying to have 'nicer' experiences. He said that if everyone in the government worked the way he did, 'we wouldn’t get anything done.'"

Park Service officials in Washington said Thursday evening that the matter was under review.

"The leadership of the National Park Service appreciates the Office of Inspector General for investigating this case and recognizes the importance of independent investigations in situations like this. The National Park Service is committed to creating a more accountable and responsible culture at all levels of the organization, particularly among its leaders," Tom Crosson, the agency's chief spokesman, wrote in an email. 

"The OIG’s findings related to Mr. Caldwell’s actions are very serious and the National Park Service is in the process of considering disciplinary action against Mr. Caldwell that is consistent with due process," he added. "In the interim, the National Park Service determined that it would be in the best interest of the organization to temporarily reassign him to duties outside of the regional office, while disciplinary action is considered.

"It is unfortunate that these actions have called into question the judgment of a leader with an otherwise strong record of public service," Mr. Crosson said.

During his reassignment, Mr. Caldwell will work under the Park Service's deputy director, Mike Reynolds, said Mr. Crosson, although he didn't know specifically what the regional director would be doing. Pending his reassigment, the regional office will be run by its deputy directors, he said.

The Northeast Region encompasses more than 80 units of the National Park System, including Acadia National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Shenandoah National Park, and Valley Forge National Historical Park, as well as 21 National Heritage Areas, 

The investigation was launched in March after allegations were made that Mr. Caldwell had traveled to Cape Cod National Seashore "under the guise of official business when in fact he went there on vacation." The investigators also determined, and the regional director acknowledged, that he accepted free housing in a rental cottage owned by a Park Service employee, a violation of federal regulations that both prohibit supervisors from accepting gifts from subordinates and subordinates from giving their supervisors gifts.

Along with confirming the allegations against Mr. Caldwell, the OIG investigators concluded that the Park Service poorly monitors its employees' travel expenses. Peggy O'Dell, who was deputy director for operations before retiring from the agency this past summer, was supposed to approve travel vouchers of regional directors, the report said. However, she had an assistant handle that task on her behalf, the report said.

"O’Dell said she had taken it on faith that the travelers who submitted their authorizations and vouchers to her were being honest, and she acknowledged that the NPS process for reviewing these documents could be improved," the investigators wrote. "She said that one way to improve the process would be for the regional directors to post their leave information in a clearly visible location. She also said that NPS needed to address the practicality of making high-level managers such as herself responsible for reviewing every travel voucher for multiple direct reports."

The bottom line, Ms. O'Dell told the investigators, was that "that the entire process depended on travelers telling the truth when submitting their travel documents."

Comments

Al. I'm familiar with your experiences at the UW, both the many recountings you've made of your side here and also what is available to those of us in the greater Seattle area and on the internet. Sorry to disappoint, but my comments in this thread were not directed to or about you; the wandering detail of your comments about you are then immaterial.

 

Green Thumb - your comments make sense.


RD Calwell committed fraud to the tune of $17,000, and only after he was caught did he admit it. There is no way, regardless of how good a boss he may have been in the past that someone who steals thousands of $$$ from their employer, and the public should be kept on in any capacity. He should be trying to negotiate a deal to pay back the value of his theft and exit government service either by dismissal or resignation, not retirement, forfeiture of his pension should be part of the deal.


The cherry on top of the Jarvis cake. Of course he would leave us all with another scandal, underscoring his amazing failure of leadership.  However, it is also on us, for we allowed it and constantly defended the train which was happening in front of our own eyes.  Ultimately, like the outcome of elections, its our responsibility to insist upon credible, honest and competent government officials.  We all need to raise the bar in all we do...


I totally agree with you Green Thumb. He is a Regional Director and should be held to the highest standard. I really do not believe that his previous career is the issue here. The issue is that he comitted fraud. His did this knowingly and only admitted the fraud when confronted with the facts. He should be fired. He has admitted his guilt. What is the message we send to all of our lower level employees when a SES Regional Director committs fraud and is given a slap on the wrist with a reassignment. Either we have standards or we do not. We expect our managers to be honest. When they are not the entire agency is damaged. There is only one solution to this problem. Immediate dismissal for Mr. Caldwell. 


I don't know Mr. Caldwell or anything about him other than what I've read here.  But I have to take exception to the idea of giving him a pass for this conduct.  In my experience, and I'm sure others have observed the same, when someone is caught in something like this, it's usually not the first or only time it has happened.

What is different is only that they were caught . . . .  this time.  How many other skeletons are hiding in the closets of his career?

Perhaps a question that should be asked is:  How would Mr. Caldwell deal with a subordinate -- particularly one at field level -- who had done the same sort of thing?  If Caldwell would dismiss another for conduct unbecoming, then shouldn't he dismiss himself?

 


The Full Picture, He cooked the Books on Time Keeping , That's automatic Firing. He included his Family by Defrauding the Taxpayer. Instead of sending Mr.Caldwell to Washington to work as a special assistant to the NPS Deputy Director Mike Reynolds, he should be sent to work as a custodian until he is Fired. This is what he used to do at Valley Fordge Park. If anyone put in for a position that would interfere with his selection and he went against Protocal , he would put that person in a Custodian position as Punishment as to say how dare you interfere . By sending Mr.Caldwell to work with Mr.Reynolds is like sending him to La La Land. Did you know thet They both both worked togeather at Northeast Region. What are Friends for. He will be taken care of greatly while still collecting that nice 159,000. On another note , this is the same man who last year at this time was involved in paying of an employee a lots of money so they would not go to court to espose the Hiring scam at Valley Forge national Park when all the Qualified people on the Cert were never going to be concidered. Only one on the cert received that Position of Building Maintenance Foreman, his friend the least Qualified. Oh yes the Inspector General was involved in this too. Remember the IG frequently declines to prosecute IG referrals. Even clear cut cases of wrondoing with no explanation. Maybe that agency shoul be abolished.


The swamp, Mr. Stronski. The swamp. Drainage is set to begin in 25 days. Now, let's hold the President-Elect to it.


Travel per-diem is supposed to be paid whenever the employee must spend the night away from their duty station, but that depends on how 'duty station' is defined for your work group. There is also a tiered system where management get much more per night than the rank & file. During my career, 'backcountry' rangers got nothing, while trail crew got $15/night.

There was an Asst. Superintendent at Olympic working on dam removal planning decades ago.  He got some kind of paper transfer to the Denver Service Center, but remained in Port Angeles and drew high-roller (then >$100/day) 'travel per-diem' for being away from his 'duty station'.

Still, I'd have to say nepotism, cronyism and preferential hiring were the most common form of NPS corruption that I saw.


The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.