Editor's note: National Park Service Director Chuck Sams on Thursday afternoon said Interior Department leadership teams are working to muster resources to help Yellowstone recover from this week’s flooding. His statement can be found here.
Three days and counting.
It's been three days since Yellowstone National Park was pounded by severe flooding that has shut down the northern half of the park, ripped out roads and bridges that will take many tens of millions of dollars and many, many months to repair, and ruined countless summer vacation plans and neither Interior Secretary Deb Haaland nor National Park Service Director Chuck Sams has publicly commented, if only to express their deep concern and intentions to rally government resources around the beleaguered park known around the world and often credited with spurring the global national parks movement.
While Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters that he's had "good conversations" with both Haaland and Sams, he didn't go into detail. A Traveler inquiry Wednesday to Park Service headquarters as to whether Sams would comment on the disaster spurred a "maybe" reply. Haaland, meanwhile, announced she was heading to Boise, Idaho, to visit the National Interagency Fire Center on Friday to discuss "significant new investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for federal wildland firefighters," but there was no mention of a side trip to Yellowstone.
Haaland or Sams more than likely will eventually visit Yellowstone to see the damage first-hand and express their concerns to the park staff. But when Sams was going through his confirmation hearings last October, he said his top priority if confirmed would be to improve staff morale. Publicly expressing his concerns and what he was doing to speed Yellowstone's recovery certainly would fall under such a goal, particularly for the Yellowstone staff -- permanent and seasonal -- whose summer has been turned upside down.
The hesitancy of Park Service directors to publicly display their leadership skills is puzzling. True, the NPS evolved from the traditionally tight-lipped military that initially was given the task of policing Yellowstone before the National Park Service existed.
Mary Bomar, Park Service director under President George W. Bush, went to Mount Rainier National Park in November 2006 to inspect the damage when more than 17 inches of rain fell during a 48-hour period, leading to road damage inside the Nisqually Entrance, wiping out the Sunshine Point Campground along the Nisqually River, and damaging Highway 410, the Carbon River Road, the Stevens Canyon Road, and the West Side Road. Damage also was sustained by the park's power and water systems. But she made no public comment afterwards.
Jon Jarvis, Park Service director under President Obama, traveled to Yosemite National Park in 2013 while the Rim Fire was raging. While he didn't conduct any formal conference calls with media to discuss the fire and his thoughts as Sholly did this week, he took some time to discuss the situation with the Los Angeles Times, telling the newspaper that the fire is "demonstrating the challenges that we in the land-management business are facing with climate change."
He later went in more detail in a nationwide conversation with Park Service staff.
As Jarvis pointed out at the time, "disasters get attention." And for Haaland and Sams to remain silent during this incredible disaster is concerning and dumbfounding.
Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, though. Neither has visited Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where the longest drought in 12 centuries has dropped Lake Powell to its lowest level since the Glen Canyon Dam was built in the 1960s and which is wreaking havoc with the tourism industry there; or Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument, which was overrun by the Tunnel Fire back in April, burning a number of facilities and vehicles; or Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, which was shut down by the Cerro Pelado Fire back in May.
In the aftermath of the Tunnel Fire, Richard Ullman, the Park Service's chief of visitor services for Flagstaff Area National Monuments, told the Arizona Daily Sun, left park staff with "what he called 'organizational trauma' that undercut their sense of purpose."
Oh, and by the way, Sunset Crater remains closed due to damage inflicted by the Tunnel Fire with no date set for reopening.
Have Haaland and Sams heard about those disasters?
Comments
The "leaders" of the park service are nothing more than politicians... Corrupt politicians as most all are. They are figuring out how to politicize this and blame "climate change" which is just an excuse to usher in more political based burocracy. You saw it with Covid and the excuse that it was the reason for reacreation.gov going national. In realty the NPS own public documents show the plan to implement recreation.goc nationally began in 2002....
Never let a disaster go to waste is the thought... Sadly
Came to the comments to see if someone would have a pessimistic, conspiracy-leaning, and science-denying take. Was not disappointed.
Obviously climate change didn't cause this, it was an inside job. Right, Chris?
That was sarcasm, by the way. The comments section of the NPT is a joke.
Chuck Sams released an interview today on Outside where he literally blames climate change as the main problem in our parks. Its not if they blame it on climate change its when. Its politics. And anyone who has worked for the NPS understands that.
There is a HUGE disconnect from the general public who awes and oohs at the parks for a day or two a year and the actual NPS staff who endure a lot of nonsense from upper management and politicians who direct the funding. There is a reason the NPS has one of the lowest federal worker approval ratings in all of the govt.
Its not pessimistic. Its reality
Sadly some people cant handle the truth
https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/national-parks/chuck-sams...
This is the slowest DOI political and communications team in history. If you need any real quotes, call the White House. They micromanage the rest of the government as well.
Agency and Deparmtnet leadership's failure to directly address the acute challenges of the NPS is emblematic of The Swamp. Swamp creatures are far more responsive to the demands coming from above than the real life issues coming from the field. This is what you get when you appoint people based on feel-good criteria instead of hard core experience in the field they oversee.
Everyone feel good yet?
As a former employee of both the federal and Pennsylvania State Government, I've seen how things work from the INSIDE. Because of the involvement of many differeent agencies and entities, and because the mustering of resources will require DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLID PLAN, it will take a couple of weeks for executive involvement to kick in. Government effort is like the redirecting the course of a very large ship; it cannot "turn on a dime," as some people think. It is foolish to think that just because there was no immediate visit by Interior executives, there is something wrong going on. They are very likely formulating a plan so that positive action can happen, not just a photo-op visit.
I am thankful that more than 10,000 visitors and campers were safely evacuated from the Park during the disaster. That is a testament to the professionalism and efficiency of the Park Service employees there. However, I am suspecting that the Department of the Interior may be using this time to consult with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) about flood control measures on the Yellowstone River, and THAT may be a reason for the slowdown. The southern park of the park will soon be reopened when it is safe to do so, according to information on Recreation.gov. I advise anyone who wants to get the latest to go to the Yellowstone Park website there.