David Vela announced Friday his departure from the National Park Service/NPS file
Editor's note: This updates with reaction from NPCA.
David Vela announced Friday that after 30 years in the National Park Service it was time to step down. His unexpected departure as de facto director of the agency was the latest upheaval the Park Service has endured under the Trump administration.
Vela told the Park Service workforce in an email that he was leaving.
"With the support of my wife of 40 years and my family, I have decided that it is time to hang up my flat hat for the last time within the month. In the coming days, Margaret Everson will be exercising the authority of the director," said Vela.
Everson comes to the Park Service from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she has served as principle deputy director since November 2018.
The change in leadership drew criticism from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
"The appointment of Margaret Everson as acting director of the National Park Service represents a further marginalization of NPS," Timothy Whitehouse, PEER's executive director, told Traveler in an email. "She is part of a rotating cast of characters at the Department of the Interior that allow (Secretary David) Bernhardt to maintain complete political control over the Park Service and reward those such as Everson who support using national parks as political props."
At the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, Chair Phil Francis was surprised and disappointed by the news.
"It was great having a career NPS person in the job," Francis said of Vela, who also was the first Latino to reach the top of the National Park Service.
Vela's email cited no specific reason for stepping down, other than he felt it was time.
"Over the past 30 years, I have had the distinct privilege of wearing the 'green and grey' of the National Park Service while serving and protecting our nation’s most special places and all of the stories that they contain with you. One of the highest honors that I had was working with you and our beloved agency," he wrote. "Over this past year, we have endured some of the most challenging times in our agency's history from addressing a global pandemic to social and racial unrest throughout our country.
"Over the course of our 104-year history, we have never turned our backs on the challenges and opportunities facing the National Park Service," Vela continued. "And, we will not change our mission, who we are and what we fundamentally believe in as we embrace our operational realities in a second century of service. However, I will not be continuing this journey with you."
National Parks and Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno thanked Vela for his service, but pointed out the Trump administration has lacked a Senate-confirmed Park Service director throughout its tenure.
“For more than three years, the National Park Service has been without a Senate-confirmed director, an agency whose 20,000 employees oversee 419 of America’s most treasured places — national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails," said Pierno.
“Without a permanent, emboldened director, there’s no one to speak for our parks and park staff. And it’s our parks and public lands, and all who visit them that pay the price," she continued. "Our national park rangers, and the American people, deserve nothing less than a fully empowered leader approved by Congress to perform his or her duties to ensure the best protection and future for our national parks.”
Vela was the third individual to serve as de facto Park Service director under President Trump. While the president nominated him in 2018 to be the agency's director and he sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing, the full Senate never acted on his nomination and he was never renominated.
Mike Reynolds, a deputy under former Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, served as the agency's acting director through 2017. Early in 2018, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke brought P. Daniel Smith out of retirement to serve as acting director, with Reynolds moving to Yosemite National Park as superintendent.
Smith stepped down in October 2019 and into a position as the Park Service's lead on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, and Vela, at the time Grand Teton National Park's superintendent, was named to replace him.
Now Vela is moving on.
"One of my favorite quotes is from President Theodore Roosevelt when he stated, 'People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care,'" he wrote. "It is my hope and prayer, that you will always know that my passion was always your safety and care.
"In my confirmation hearing to serve as director during the last Congress, I mentioned that you are 'the pride of the National Park Service.' I will never be able to adequately put into words how proud I am of you - whether a volunteer, seasonal or permanent employee. Whatever success I can claim in my over 30 years in the NPS is because of you - my colleagues. Thanks for the opportunity to serve on the front lines with you, and know that you continue to make me proud!"
Along with the frequent changes at the top of the Park Service, Interior officials forced changes at the agency's regional offices. In June 2018, Dan Wenk, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, was told to move to Washington, D.C., to serve as director of the National Capitol Region of the agency with Cam Sholly, then director of the Midwest Region, succeeding Wenk at Yellowstone. Wenk declined and instead retired.
At the same time, Interior officials moved Bert Frost, Alaska Regional director since 2014, to succeed Sholly in the Midwest Region after he balked at moving to Lake Mead National Recreation Area to be superintendent; Sue Masica, Intermountain Regional director in Denver since 2013, retired rather than be moved to another region; and Lake Mead Superintendent Lizette Richardson retired rather than take over Masica's position in the Intermountain Region.
"It’s not a good thing to do in terms of organizational health, in terms of morale," Francis said of the personnel moves at the time. "It’s not good to lose institutional memory. And it’s not a good thing to do at the end of people’s career.”
Everson has a track record with Republican administrations in Washington. Under President George W. Bush from 2006-08 she worked in the Interior Department as counselor to Dale Hall, then director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Margaret Everson will succeed David Vela as acting director of the National Park Service/USFWS
Prior to being appointed principal deputy director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, she worked in the solicitor's office at Interior.
Everson received a bachelor of science degree in biology with a focus in marine biology from St. Francis College before obtaining a law degree from Vermont Law School.
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Comments
Nice to see a woman in charge!
OMG, are you telling me that Secretary Barnyard, the National Park Foundation, and the NPS are so corrupt that they needed somebody even more malleable and compliant in that position than Vela? That's amazing, getting close to the currently known edge of the physical realm. By the way, what's happening at Caneel Bay and what is good old Rob Wallace doing?
Guessing new director is approving permits in DC so they must be ok with yelling fire on crowded movie theater analogous to permitting more insurections--why not try to stop that and actually heed Mayor Bowser request to disapprove them.
Lovely to see a woman take the reigns of the NPS! And with previous work expereince at USFWS. Looks like a great pick
Sounds like the SOI didn't like that Vela wasn't opening the parks fast enough so he's bringing in someone who will open them faster and kill more people.
What a stupid comment. Being outside in nature make social distancing much easier.I am one of many that have been waiting for the campgrounds that are part of gulf islands national seashore to reopen. If we are each in our own self-contained camper and spending time at the beach how is that going to kill more people? Note self contained so using the bathhouse is not needed
Anon - How many have died from going to a National Park to date?
How many employees have gotten sick since the parks opened? That's a better question.
The average is a few per week nationally. Here's an article from last year discussing the typical fatality rate in the National Park System: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/24/us/national-parks-service-deaths-per-week...
Best wishes to David Vela on his much deseerved retirement. I had the pleasure of speaking with him at a dinner before the virus hit and he was looking forward to retiring this fall. Godspeed!
Congrautlations to her! #GirlBoss
Look at her background. Pro-hunting!
We need more women in these leadership positions!
Sorry, I want the most qualified person, gender, race, religion does not matter at all.
In response to the notion that traveling to national parks is completely safe:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2020/07/27/summer-road...
I wonder if Mr. Vela was forced to resign because of all the thumbs down i have given to the weekly DOI propaganda "This Week in Interior" Youtube videos.
Interesting that Trump’s pushing out the NPS director right after signing a bill giving billions to the NPS for infrastructure work. It’s almost like he wants more control over who those contracts will go to
Quite honestly, having a career person at the top of the NPS doesn't turn out so well. Not a bad thing to get multiple perspectives. The last effective career leader to head the NPS was Russ Dickinson. Having career people a the head of the agency creates insular thinking and "score settling" Remember Jarvis and Snyder or Director Bomar and her trail of people she steamrolled. Having a career person at the Deputy is the key to an effective agency and there are currently 2 very effective deputies in the agency who are career people.
The Service is bigger than anyone one person. Congrats to Mr. Vela on his retirement. NPS will carry on.
Tell us, anon how many have gotten sick? And how does that compare to other years?
Maybe Vela was just tired of never recieving official confirmation as NPS Director? It's a real shame his nomination never came to a vote.
Velo got beat up in congressional hearings this week over the US Park Police role in Lafayette Park. Also PEER.ORG has a fairly interesting article noting that in their acting positions, the Interior bureau directors are not able to fully carry out the duties of their office and that many of those important decision making duties have taken over by the Secretary. So no wonder Vela, completely marginalized, with the Park Police sinking in to a seeping into a deepening dysfuniction, getting beat up in Congress over it, the Secretary's zeal to reopen everything, the administration failing to resubmit his nomination and the secretary essentially doing his job for him left little reason to sit around and be dismissed come January 19th, if not earlier.
What is happening with the deputy Lina Macdowell and all the OIG investigations about money misused in her programs without she doing nothing? Ask about incentive given to woman she didn't hired. Crooked.
I couldn't sleep last night. There was something about Margaret Everson's photo that kept me awake. I just couldn't place it or get it out of my mind. Then, about 5am, it came to me. Does Everson bear a strangely striking resemblance to Heather White or perhaps it's Kay Yeager?
It seems like we are losing more and more critical key management positions from the NPS career ranks. Pretty soon it will be run exclusively by political appointees with no experience managing parks. I did not know David Vela personally but it appears that he had his head and heart in the job, even if others did not always agree with his decisions. I suspect that it was time for him to move on to more positive and less stressful activities. Hopefully his replacement will make positive changes to the organization.
Mr. Ploughjogger, have you no decency sir? That is a shockingly sexist statement, who cares about someone's appearance? Make all the policy arguments you want, but don't be a chauvinist! Ramona - I agree with you, we must hire the most qualified - and we must not countenance snide sexist comments about their appearance. This agency has a long way to go on fair representation in it senior leadership ranks.
Come on "Not Fran or Mary" ---- I'm afraid your pearls are going to continue to be in a bunch, if Humphrey Ploughjogger 's questions appear to be "shockingly sexist."
He comments about ABC reminding him of XYZ? Balderdash! Would you again be as hypersensitive if he said that Bernheardt reminded him of Zinke because of height?
I wish I could say I was surprised by the ignorance of many of these comments. Just becasue she's a woman doesn't mean she'll do a good, or even better, job. This is identity politics at its worst. I suppose all of you who are so overjoyed at a woman, any woman, being appointed to this position also voted for John McCain in '08 because Sarah Palin. Nevermind if Margaret Everson will actually be a strong advocate for the preservation of our national parks or not. That doesn't matter. She's a woman. Nevermind if she'll simply serve as a facilitator of further privatization or not. She's a woman. That's what's really important. smh
Here is one clue as to why Director Vela is not with us any more...some in leadership pay more attention to Tucker Carlson than the American park users. This is jst onemore nailin the NPS coffin
https://youtu.be/RvsLA0ZPVNQ
Best wishes to David Vela in his retirement. While SER Regional Director, he was very supportive of our commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, "Civil War to Civil Rights."
New title is "Counselor to the Secretary, acting with the Authority of the Director."
He might have been a good leader, but in my book, he let Caneel Bay go to rot on his watch.
NPS has operated more than three years without a Senate-confirmed Director! I vaguely remember having Acting Directors in the past but this seems longer than average.
"We requested a list of missing people from the national park service, they told us that no such list exists and to deliver one would cost 1.4 million dollars. "
Think about that. Whatcha hiding ?
Old dudes who ape Ed Abbey's verbal pomposity also ape his sexism? What a surprise!
Did you increase the numbers of permitted participants in the January 6 demonstration from 5,000 to 30,000? Why? Did the NPS obtain an adequate certificate of liability insurance from the organizers?
I would guess the decision to allow that number to increase just 2 days before the rally will be a focus of the OIG. It doesn't take a special agent to see a pattern during the Trump Administration of the leniency given to the permitting activities on the National Mall and elsewhere (Mount Rushmore, Fort McHenry) for what are not even close to being First Amendment Rights. I would guess public funds have been used to support these activities as well.
The audacity to characterize what happened on January 6th as allowable under a First Amendment gathering permit is an embarrasment.