From Deseret News archives:
National parks leaders converge on Utah
When the meetings were over, Joan Anzelmo headed back to her job at Yellowstone National Park and to what would become the historic "year of fire" there. About $120 million was spent on fires fought by 25,000 men and women who battled blazes that charred over one-third of the park's 2.2 million acres.
"Obviously that fire season changed all of our lives," Anzelmo said over the phone.
Now superintendent of the 25,000-acre Colorado National Monument, Anzelmo is organizing a rare summit of superintendents that will take place on Wednesday and Thursday at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort. Those superintendents manage 391 sites in the national park system.
Wildfires, particularly in the arid West, will be one of many topics covered during the two days of meetings, which will also include an appearance by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Anzelmo said a summit committee chose Utah for its central location and Snowbird for its discounted rates.
Anzelmo said superintendents will talk about how to improve parks and how to develop park leaders for a new century. The year 2016 marks the 100-year anniversary of the national park system.
"The good news is that Congress has been pretty darn generous to national parks," she said.
Anzelmo referred specifically to a matching grant initiative that has brought public and private money together to fund new programs for tourists at her park and, in Utah, at Cedar Breaks National Monument and Zion National Park. Base funding, she added, to hire seasonal employees just to handle maintenance work on trails and facilities has also increased.
National Park Service Director Mary Bomar said the summit will focus on increasing capacity at parks by "engaging volunteers and other partners" to supplement a $2.3 billion organization that systemwide, has 275 million annual visitors. Charles Jordan, The Conservation Fund chairman, has been invited to speak on that topic.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
Comments
- Smoky smell at hospital from welders 8:27 p.m.
- Panel recommends raising food tax 8:13 p.m.
- BYU football: What others are saying 7:45 p.m.
- Should districts pay union reps? 7:12 p.m.
- I-80 reconstruction finally done 6:55 p.m.
- Child porn case nets fed sentence 6:44 p.m.
- Groups celebrate Dobbs' CNN exit 6:43 p.m.
- H1N1 slightly down in Utah 6:40 p.m.
- Retirement fund still seeking money 6:39 p.m.
- Judge to send message in mink case 6:37 p.m.
- House passes health care bill
333 - SLC council OKs gay rights policies
317 - TCU showdown has big implications
195 - Senators want food tax restored
158 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
137 - Will state consider gay rights law?
137 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
118
One of my guilty pleasures is perusing the covers of celebrity magazines...
The galactic center shines like firelight through gaps in …
If a gun is concealed... unless it is very hard to get to... you still have...
America's best days are behind us because no person will continue to invest,...
I live for Utah football. My Utes will win out the rest of their games. GO...
Having cancer or MS is a nightmare that you can't wake up from. Having your...
See Wake Forest game. Loss at home. Then there is Utah State and its 34...
If Beck and Palin run and loose -- Will you nut-cake Conservatives finally...
Wrong! Its happening right now in your Country! No one will continue to work...
At least that guy you tore down thinks realistically. As Shoot It says, the...
The only reason the Oklahoma game has lost it's luster is because we...
Let's see. The Deseret News is an LDS owned newspaper sold in a state that...


You can be the first to comment on this story.