David Vela's confirmation hearing as National Park Service director is set for November 15/NPS

A November 15 hearing date has been set for David Vela's nomination as National Park Service director to be considered by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Since President Trump's election two years ago, the Park Service has been overseen by deputy directors given the authority to act as director. Currently, Daniel P. Smith, who was brought out of retirement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has been serving as the acting director.

Vela was nominated for the director's job on August 31. He has been superintendent at Grand Teton National Park since 2014. Previously, he worked in Washington, D.C., as the Park Service's associate director for Workforce, Relevancy and Inclusion. He oversaw NPS programs including Human Resources, Learning and Development, Equal Opportunity, Youth, and the Office of Relevancy, Diversity & Inclusion. Prior to that, he was director of the agency's Southeast Region based in Atlanta.

If confirmed, Vela will take the reins of an agency that has been struggling with a deferred maintenance backlog of nearly $12 billion, and low morale among a workforce that has grappled with sexual harassment issues, low pay, work-life balance inequity, concerns over leadership, and concerns around strategic management, according to the 2017 Best Places To Work survey.

There are a number of pressing issues that could come up at his confirmation hearing later this month:

* Does he agree with the Trump adminstration's proposed budget cuts for the Park Service?

* Does he think the Park Service has adequate staff to handle record-setting park visitation?

* Where does he stand on reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and does he support additions to the National Park System?

* What are his thoughts on climate change and whether it is affecting the parks?

* What is his commitment to the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act? A number of parks have been affected by acid rain and polluted air.

* Does he support continuing efforts to prepare the parks for the effects of climate change?

* Does he support Secretary Zinke's proposed reorganization of the Interior Department and its bureaus?

* Did he, as then-director of the Park Service's Southeast Region, work with Pedro Ramos, at the time superintendent of Big Cypress, to try to persuade then-NPS Director Jon Jarvis to waive a section of the National Park Service's Management Policies pertaining to wilderness-quality landscapes so they could allow ORV use in 147,000 acres that were added to Big Cypress in 1996? If so, why?

* Will he order his superintendents to identify and implement visitation carrying capacities for their parks, as Congress directed in 1978 via the National Parks and Recreation Act and as the Park Service's 2006 Management Policies underscored? If not, why not?

* Does he support a relaxation of predator hunting regulations in national preserves in Alaska, as directed by Secretary Zinke?

* Does he agree with Secretary Zinke that national park managers should give states oversight of wildlife and fisheries management issues in the parks?

* Does he believe the Park Service has an effective plan to address harassment of, and discrimination against, park employees? If not, what approach would he take?

* What immediate steps would he take to improve morale among the roughly 20,000 permanent and seasonal Park Service employees?

* Does he support the proposed 10,502-acre marine reserve at Biscayne National Park? If not, why not?

The hearing will be webcast live on the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete.