That would have been in the mid 50’s?
Yes, I graduated in 1957, so ’55, ’56, ’57 were summers spent at Rocky.
You weren’t the law enforcement-oriented then?
I was law enforcement-oriented to the extent that I wanted to see that the responsibilities were carried out, but not to the extent of sacrificing interpretive programs.
Has that been a knock on I & RM programs?
Only because of the individuals running the program.
It is still that way?
Yes. It will be no better nor more successful then the individuals who are placed in that type of organizational structure. If you’ve got that kind of an organization you must carefully screen to be sure that the people placed in those positions understand and can foster a working relationship that can make it [I & RM] work. And it can.
Did you have some planning duties in your job at Theodore Roosevelt?
Yes. I did because we [the NPS] were in the early stages of the wilderness review in national parks. I was directed to make some initial wilderness recommendations from the field to send to Washington. Theodore Roosevelt had just completed their master plan before I got there. My brother Homer had been at Theodore Roosevelt just before me as field ranger. He had an assignment, since the chief ranger and superintendent told him to work with a planning team led by Frank Hirst. The team finished a master plan which had been approved by the time I got there. So I was very appreciative of the plan and working hard trying to implement it.
From Theodore Roosevelt I went to Washington, D.C. in 1966 to assume duties in a job called Park Planner, Resource Management, as part of an effort to redirect planning activities. At that point in time the NPS had principally landscape architects in planning. As Director, George Hartzog declared that the NPS needed to get people in planning with operational experience in various fields. Whereas I was a resource management ranger type, they brought in an interpreter, a historian or two, and an engineer who had been in the field. That developed into this team that worked for Ed Peetz in Arlington’s Roslyn Building (7). From there the master plan teams went out of their projects. Ed Peetz developed a team depending on the needs of the area. If it was one that had resource management concerns, and/or heavy ranger concerns I was brought in to be on the team.
