NPS Director Jarvis said the Waco Mammoth Site would be a great addition to the National Park System/City of Waco
In an unusual public statement, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis has spoken highly of adding the Waco Mammoth Site in Texas to the National Park System.
The director visited the site on Tuesday and met with community leaders who have been seeking national park desigination for the site. As either Congress or the president must designate units to the park system, either through legislation or an executive order under the Antiquities Act, it's rare that Park Service officials speak so highly in favor of adding a site. But after touring the site Tuesday, Director Jarvis said it would be a welcome addition to the park system.
The director discussed how sites are added to the National Park System and talked about the benefits associated with becoming a National Park Service unit. In 2013, national park visitors contributed $26.5 billion to the nation's economy and supported almost 240,000 jobs across the country.
'The Waco Mammoth Site offers an exciting opportunity to engage students, visitors and scientists alike with the story of these extinct mammoths. The enthusiasm that the community expressed for National Park Service involvement with this site at today's public meeting is inspiring,' said Director Jarvis in a prepared statement. 'As the National Park Service looks toward our centennial next year, places like the Waco Mammoth Site provide great opportunities for more Americans to develop a lifelong relationship with parks as places where they can play and learn about amazing stories contained at sites like this.'
Congress directed the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of the Waco Mammoth Site, which was completed in 2008. It confirmed that the Waco Mammoth resources are nationally significant, worthy of permanent preservation and suitable and feasible for inclusion in the national park system.
In 1978, Columbian Mammoth fossils were first discovered at the site, and it remains the nation's first and only recorded discovery of a nursery herd (females and their offspring) of Pleistocene mammoths. The remains of 24 mammoths have been found to date, 19 of which were part of the nursery herd, and more remains from the Ice Age are likely in the area. The nursery herd died at the same moment in time as a result of a natural catastrophic event, the skeletons are relatively intact, and the individual mammoths range in age from 3 to 65 years old.The site offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to examine the matriarchal herd structure and behavior of this extinct species. For example, juvenile mammoth skeletons rest atop the long tusks of adults, suggesting that the adults were trying to save their offspring from the rising waters and sucking mud. The site has already revealed other Ice Age fossils, including camel, saber-toothed cat, dwarf antelope, and giant tortoise.
'The city is proud to be partnered with community leaders and Baylor University in preserving and protecting the Waco Mammoth site. We welcome the National Park Service to join us in this partnership,' said Waco Mayor Malcolm Duncan, Jr. 'We look forward to sharing the benefits of this collaboration with visitors from across the country for generations to come. We are very grateful for the contributions of our partners. We thank Director Jarvis and his staff for coming to look. It is our sincere hope we can share the discovery with the rest of this great country in working with the National Park Service.'
Comments
I totally agree and am waiting eagerly for Director Jarvis to make this announcement or another announcement of substance that will address the problems and challanges of the National Park System. The purpose of the Director is to provide leadership and make the hard decisions and not to spend his time visiting another fossil site. I repeat, the man shows no leadership or ability to manage the National Park System in the 21st Century.
I admit this was an error on my part. The local newspaper article did not mention any prior study. I did take time to look up the Waco Mammoth Site Special Resource study on the NPS planning web site and noticed it was completed in 2008 with no recommendation for any of the four suggested alternatives (http://www.nps.gov/search/?affiliate=nps&query=Waco+Special+Resource+Stu...). It was not easy to find using the usual NPS search engines. I had to go to google to locate a copy.
Having found this study I am relieved that the site has been looked at. If the NPS has made a final determination to support and recommend the addition to this site to the NPS I do not know, but since Director Jarvis has visited the site and spoken favorably about it I can only assume this decision has been made. If there is a paper or document supporting this decision I cannot find it.
The entire issue of Waco raises additional questions.
1. Why is it so difficult to find information/reports on the NPS web site? We have numerous search engines but they are all incomplete and need to be integrated and worked on to make them user friendly.
2. We still have a backlog of $11.5 billion in unmet maintenance needs. I believe the most important function of the National Park Service is to address this issue. Lack of maintenance can only go on for so long and then our collection of existing parks will begin to fail and visitors to these parks will not experience their full potential and may be in actual danger of physical harm. '
3. I understand that Mr. Jarvis is an employee of the Obama Administration but the Director of the National Park Service has a greater responsibility. The Director's primary job is to see to the protection of the natural and cultural resources of our parks and to provide for a safe and rewarding visitor experience for all Americans. This is the purpose of the Director. He represents us. He needs to do more than travel the country giving good feeling speeches about potential new national parks.
I would like to see Director Jarvis speak up about the true state of the NPS is in 2015 and what we need to do to ensure the survival of the parks in 2016 and beyond. Where is his plan to repair the broken infrastructure of the parks, encourage the hiring and education of the next generation of NPS employees, and serve as the spokesman for the parks.
Finally, let me say I would like the Director and his staff answer email questions from the public. I know many people do this already but most I suspect do not. I would also like the Director to set up a special email account for the use of his employees who can write him directly with their ideas and concerns. .He does not have to answer every email but he should at least read them.
Harry, I would generally agree with your regarding the addition of units to the system but I think we do need to make some distinctions. Some sites have artifacts that if detroyed/removed will never be displaced. Mammoth fossils would certainly fit that bill. Delaying protection of those fossils could lead to irreversible harm. Can the same be said for that $11 billion backlog you lament? I would suggest much of that "infrastructure" investment could be made at a future date - or maybe better yet in some cases, not at all.
That said, I think there are plenty of units that could be discarded or turned over to local authorities which could free up much of the budget. I can't quable with your call for more access to information and broader channels to provide input to the directors office.
Thanks, Harry, some very good points.
I love it when NPS folks show up to say that NPS folks supported Jarvis. Just as much as I like hearing that NPS folks like fee schemes so the public gets fee schemes. The NPS bureacracy exists for the NPS bureaucrats. How mistaken of me to to think that the purpose of the NPS was to provide services to TAXPAYERS instead of deciding what is best for the NPS. That is why Jarvis needs to go. He and his ilk have forgotten whom they are entrusted to serve and send out folks to attack anyone who questions them and then start with the "maintenance backlog" poor mouthing. Leaky ship.
Harry, I agree, you raise some good points, I particularly think it is important to set up a communications system that allows field employees to have a feedback system to the the Washington Office. I do think it is important for the NPS Director to get out of office and into the field. There are many opportunities to talk to locals, employees, visitors, I support Mr. Jarvis in his efforts here. I remember one occasion where a congressional sub-committee held a hearing on campsites in Yosemite. Mr. Jarvis was in attendance, stayed the entire meeting and talked to many citizens and employees. It was quite impressive.
I've taken the time to read several local news stories on the Waco proposal, and it's obvious the local community has really made an effort to try to win support for this idea. A local delegation went to Washington last fall to try to drum up support for a presidential proclamation, and also to try to get Jarvis to come for a visit.
Given that situation, if the administration is giving this idea any serious thought at all, it seems one logical step would be to send the NPS Director for a first-hand report. I'd much rather have decisions made about a possible future NPS site made after the Director's on-site look than simply on the basis of lobbying by locals. Such an evaluation seems to be a logical part of the Director's job description.
I've never met Mr. Jarvis, and retired long before he took his position, so I have no personal basis for evaluating his overall performance. I agree with rmackie, I'd much rather have a Director who gets out of the office to see things for himself, rather than staying isolated in Washington.
I want to thank everyone for your thoughtful comments.The issues facing the National Park Service in today's political and fiscal climate are hard and I do not envy anyone who holds the position of Director. We all support the parks and while we may disagree on some specific issues it is important that we all pull together in the end. The parks are too important a legacy to loose. They must be preserved and cared for so that future generations of Americans can enjoy their rich diversity of natural and cultural resources.
Back in 1990 I completed the Geology National Historic Landmark Theme Study which represented the second phase of the National Park Service's thematic study of the history of American science.
This study was only completed in draft because I was pulled off to work on the Labor History Theme Study. Since geology is becoming more and more important in the addition of National Parks I would like to see the NPS assign a qualified geologist to update and complete this study. In addition to the Waco site I recommend two more important Texas sites contained in the study.
Dinosaur Valley State Park, Somervell County, Texas (NNL): Dinosaur Valley State Park, four miles east of Glen Rose, contains fossil footprint trackways exposed in the bed of the Paluxey River and tributary creeks that give important information on the habits and locomotion of the large dinosaurs.
Greenwood Canyon, Montague County, Texas (NNL): Greenwood Canyon is one of the three or four most important fossil localities of the Cretaceous age known in the world, and is the most important site of Early Cretaceous mammalian remains in the Western Hemisphere. It is the sole surviving locality to produce more that a single mammalian tooth representing the first half of the Cretaceous, a very important period in mammalian evolution.
The study can be downloaded from IRMA at the following link. https://irma.nps.gov/App/Reference/Profile/2193373
I am sure no one remembers this study or understands the important work I put into this effort. This is even more reason for having complete and easy to use search engines on the NPS web site.