Natural resource management was just beginning to come on the scene and was being recognized Service wide. I was very strong on natural resource management and so we were recognized as being a park suitable for adding a resource management trainee to our staff (26). We were able then to get John Jarvis. We almost had a fight with Bill Dunmire, who was superintendent at Carlsbad Caverns. Jarvis hadn’t been there a year yet, but because this was a special program just being initiated, Bill had to go along with it. We got Jarvis without facilities to accommodate him, such as suitable quarters and office space. The thing that started the ball rolling toward closure of the Klamath Falls office was the realignment of the regional boundary. Lava Beds was placed in the Western Region, and no longer reported to the Klamath Falls group (27). Klamath Falls just served Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, and John Day Fossil Beds.
How many people were in the Klamath Falls office? Did closure affect more than a couple of people?
Closure made some people choose to retire or relocate. Jeff Adams, for example, chose to retire. He stayed on as a kind of consultant for awhile. The interpretive specialist moved on, and when he did, they never filled his job. Jim Blaisdale then moved to the regional office as wildlife biologist. They brought the administrative officer up to Crater Lake (28). Ernie Borgman was offered a position in the regional office if he wanted it, but he chose to retire (29). I wish he hadn’t, because he was so young. Ernie could have accomplished much more. Russ Dickenson expected that Ernie and I could make things work (30). I would spend time once a week in Klamath Falls with Ernie. I would make it the day that the Rotary Club met in Klamath Falls. Quite a distance, and my travel there probably raised some eyebrows since here was this superintendent driving all the way into Klamath Falls to go to a Rotary Club meeting. But I was also working with Ernie and the group. I was also encouraged, and could see the need, to foster and promote external relations that had not been the best.
