Early returns on Mary Bomar's nomination as the next director of the National Park Service have been fairly warm, with quite a few folks happy that someone from within the agency has been tabbed to succeed Fran.
    In its report on her nomination the Philadelphia Inquirer described Mary as having "an outgoing personality and ability to navigate through bureaucracy." The paper should know, as Mary has been based in Philadelphia since 2003.
    On the other coast, the Fresno Bee noted that she works well with others:
    "She really does create an environment of partnership," Amy Needle, executive director of a Philadelphia-based group called Once Upon a Nation, told the Bee. "She made a really strong effort to be very cooperative."
    Bill Wade of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees told several news outlets that Mary "has been a very good regional director in terms of supporting park needs and park resources, and I think that gives us reason to believe she would be quite an improvement'' over Fran.
    What little concern over her nomination has surfaced comes from Montana, where U.S. Sen. Max Baucus told the Billings Gazette that he was a bit concerned that Mary has "little or no experience in the West."
    "As all of us in Montana know - the West is very different from the East Coast," Baucus told the newspaper. "Should Mary Bomar become the new Park Service director, I'd expect her to get to Montana as soon as possible to hear our concerns."
    Of course, what remains to be seen is whether the Senate will get around to confirming Mary as Park Service director before the November elections. If that doesn't happen, she might not be confirmed before January.