For immediate release – July 26, 2010

Contacts: David Barna, (202) 208-6843, David_Barna@nps.gov

Patrick O’Driscoll, (303) 969-2839, Patrick_O’Driscoll@nps.gov

Wessels Named Intermountain Regional Director

Will lead one of seven National Park Service regions

WASHINGTON – National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis has named John

A. Wessels as the Service’s Intermountain regional director, responsible

for leading 5,000 employees and 92 national parks visited by more than 42

million people annually. Wessels, who serves as the region’s associate

director for administration, business and technology, assumes his new

position in Denver in August.

“John has an incredible track record of tackling tough issues and finding

innovative solutions,” Jarvis said. “Results-oriented and goal-driven, John

manages by inclusion, building a collaborative work ethic among employees

and with partners. He strives for the highest standards of transparency and

accountability. He has an easy grasp of the big picture and is dedicated to

the effective use of new and emerging technologies to meet the needs of the

National Park Service. As the National Park Service looks toward its second

century, he will be a valuable member of our national senior management

team.”

“Serving as the Intermountain regional director is a tremendous honor,”

Wessels said. “The region is home to some of this country’s most

spectacular landscapes and most compelling stories, places that have been

entrusted to the National Park Service by the American people for nearly

100 years. It is our privilege to care for the natural and cultural

resources in parks and to work with communities around the region to help

them preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational

opportunities for their citizens.

“For me, this is an opportunity to support employees in their dedicated

efforts to care for these special places and engage park visitors,

partners, and communities. I will listen carefully to their voices as we

work together to preserve these places, engage the public, draw young

people to the parks, and provide meaningful experiences to our diverse

audiences.”

As the regional associate director for administration, business and

technology since 2004, Wessels oversees a regional annual operating budget

of $500 million and the largest concessions contracting operation in the

National Park Service, more than 200 contracts that gross over $425 million

annually.

Over the last 18 months, he has also led the investment of $200 million in

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds in priority park projects

across the region. He was the key figure in developing a virtual

acquisition strategy that has improved accountability and empowered the

workforce with more flexibility for purchasing and contracting. He was

responsible for overseeing property management for 43 million acres of

public land and more than 2,000 park structures.

Wessels joined the National Park Service in 2000 as the Intermountain

Region’s comptroller, where he managed all finance and budget-related

activities and developed a web-based system to integrate financial systems

data and project information to provide park managers with real-time access

to critical income and expense data by park.

During his career he has served as acting deputy superintendent at Golden

Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, acting deputy Intermountain

regional director, acting associate director for business services at the

National Park Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., and most recently

as acting superintendent of Grand Teton National Park and the John D.

Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway in Wyoming.

From 1989 to 2000, Wessels worked for U.S. Department of Commerce’s

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder managing

financial and administrative functions and systems for the national physics

laboratory.

He was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow in 1985 and served in

the Office of Management and Budget where he become a permanent employee

(1985-1989) serving as the budget examiner for the $4 billion U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development. At OMB, he staffed two

presidential commissions – Management Improvement and Integrity and

Efficiency – and was the lead analyst on the Enterprise Zone Empowerment

Program, an initiative to spur investment in economically depressed

communities. In 1987, Wessels was commissioned as an ensign in the United

States Naval Reserve and served for six years as a reserve intelligence

analyst.

Wessels earned bachelor and master of science degrees in public finance and

policy analysis from Carnegie-Mellon University and a second master of

science degree in computer information systems from Regis University, where

he has served as an adjunct professor of business and information systems

in the College of Professional Studies since 1998.

He lives in Denver with his wife, Mary, and their children Grace and Jack.

www.nps.gov

Note to Editors: The National Park Service’s seven regional offices provide localized policy, leadership, and technical support to parks and communities. The Intermountain region is the largest region in the National Park Service, spanning the states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. The region includes 92 parks encompassing 11.1 million acres; employs 6,000 permanent and seasonal employees, and generates one-half of all National Park Service concession revenues. It has more than 230 national historic landmarks and more than 11,000 properties listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

_______________________________________________

Npsnews mailing list

Npsnews@webmail.itc.nps.gov

http://webmail.itc.nps.gov/mailman/listinfo/npsnews

Related posts

• Parktips – June 2010 (0)
• National Park Service Parktips – July 2010 (0)
• $3 million for WWII Japanese American Confinement Sites National Park Service Grants Fund Preservation Efforts (0)
• Parktips – January 2010 (2)
• Parktips – October 2009 (0)

July 20, 2010 – For immediate release

Contact: Samantha Richardson, Samantha_Richardson@nps.gov, 303-969-2825

From the Brooklyn Bridge to Osaka, Japan

National Park Service presents park design awards

WASHINGTON: Public, private and international design firms from more than

20 states and five countries vied for honors in the inaugural Designing the

Parks competition. Entries had to engage people, expand beyond traditional

boundaries and demonstrate reverence for place, sustainability, informed

decision-making and an integrated development process.

“The entries prove that great park design can change derelict factory sites

to ecologically responsible social spaces and old dairy barns to

LEED-certified conference facilities,” National Park Service Director Jon

Jarvis said. “Because the National Park Service has a community and

sustainability mission outside the national parks, it is inspiring to

recognize these exceptional park designs. These places will improve

people’s lives.”

The National Park Service’s Denver Service Center, in partnership with the

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, recognized outstanding examples of

park design in four categories: master planning, site design, building

design and historic preservation design.

Master Planning Awards

Honor: Brooklyn Bridge Park (New York); Michael Van Valkenburgh

Associates, Inc.

Merit: Parklands of Floyds Fork (Louisville, Ky.); Wallace Roberts &

Todd

Merit: Minute Man National Historical Park (Concord, Mass.); Bargmann

Hendrie + Archetype, Inc.

Merit: Flight 93 National Memorial (Somerset, Pa.); Paul Murdoch

Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

Site Design Awards

Honor: Waterfront Bunkaza Cultural Plaza (Osaka, Japan); RYUICHI

ASHIZAWA Architects & Associates

Honor: Teardrop Park (New York); Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates,

Inc.

Merit: Eielson Visitor Center, Denali National Park (Denali, Alaska);

Denali National Park and Preserve

Site Design Awards (continued)

Merit: Concrete Plant Park, Bronx River Greenway (Bronx, N.Y.); City of

New York

Merit: Santa Fe Railyard Park (Santa Fe, N.M.); Frederic Schwartz

Architects, Ken Smith Landscape Architects, and Mary Miss, Artist

Merit: Hudson River Park, Tribeca Section (New York); Mathews Nielsen

Merit: Annenberg Community Beach House (Santa Monica, Calif.); Mia

Lehrer and Associates

Building Design Awards

Honor: Pocono Environmental Education Center Multipurpose Space,

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Dingmans

Ferry, Pa.); Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Honor: Liberty Bell Center, Independence National Historical Park

(Philadelphia); Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Historic Preservation Design Awards

Honor: Blue Ball Barn, Alapocas Run State Park (Wilmington,

Del.);Wallace Roberts & Todd

Honor: Chapultepec Park (Mexico City); Grupo de Diseño Urbano S.C. /

Mario Schjetnan

Honor: Cavallo Point Lodge, Golden Gate National Park (San Francisco);

Architectural Resource Group and Leddy Maytum Stacy

Architects, and Office of Cheryl Barton

An interdisciplinary jury evaluated 69 entries to select the award winners.

Detailed information about the Designing the Parks awards and each project,

including photographs and jury comments, is available at

www.designingtheparks.org.

www.nps.gov

Note: The Denver Service Center is the National Park Service’s centralized planning, design and construction project management office. It works with private industry to provide environmentally responsible and fiscally sound products.

Related posts

• Parktips – June 2010 (0)
• From the Brooklyn Bridge to Osaka, Japan National Park Service presents park design awards (0)
• Parktips – February 2010 (3)
• National Park Service Parktips – March 2010 (1)
• Parktips – October 2009 (0)

National Park Service News Release

July 16, 2010 – For immediate release

Contact: Samantha Richardson, Samantha_Richardson@nps.gov, 303-969-2825

From the Brooklyn Bridge to Osaka, Japan

National Park Service presents park design awards

WASHINGTON: Public, private and international design firms from more than

20 states and five countries vied for honors in the inaugural Designing the

Parks competition. Entries had to engage people, expand beyond traditional

boundaries and demonstrate reverence for place, sustainability, informed

decision-making and an integrated development process.

“The entries prove that great park design can change derelict factory sites

to ecologically responsible social spaces and old dairy barns to

LEED-certified conference facilities.” National Park Service Director Jon

Jarvis said. “Because the National Park Service has a community and

sustainability mission outside the national parks, it is inspiring to

recognize these exceptional park designs. These places will improve

people’s lives.”

The National Park Service’s Denver Service Center, in partnership with the

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, recognized outstanding examples of

park design in four categories: master planning, site design, building

design and historic preservation design.

Master Planning Awards

Honor: Brooklyn Bridge Park (New York); Michael Van Valkenburgh

Associates, Inc.

Merit: Parklands of Floyds Fork (Louisville, Ky.); Wallace Roberts &

Todd

Merit: Minute Man National Historical Park (Concord, Mass.); Bargmann

Hendrie + Archetype, Inc.

Merit: Flight 93 National Memorial (Somerset, Pa.); Paul Murdoch

Architects

Site Design Awards

Honor: Waterfront Bunkaza Cultural Plaza (Osaka, Japan); RYUICHI

ASHIZAWA Architects & Associates

Honor: Teardrop Park (New York); Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates,

Inc.

Merit: Eielson Visitor Center, Denali National Park (Denali, Alaska);

Denali National Park and Preserve

Merit: Concrete Plant Park, Bronx River Greenway (Bronx, N.Y.); City of

New York

Merit: Santa Fe Railyard Park (Santa Fe, N.M.); Frederic Schwartz

Architects

Merit: Hudson River Park (New York); Mathews Nielsen

Merit: Annenberg Community Beach House (Santa Monica, Calif.); Mia

Lehrer and Associates

Building Design Awards

Honor: Pocono Environmental Education Center Multipurpose Space,

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Dingmans Ferry, Pa.);

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Honor: Liberty Bell Center, Independence National Historical Park

(Philadelphia); Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Historic Preservation Design Awards

Honor: Blue Ball Dairy Barn, Alapocas Run State Park (Wilmington,

Del.);Wallace Roberts & Todd

Honor: Chapultepec Park (Mexico City); Grupo de Diseño Urbano /GDU

Honor: Cavallo Point Lodge, Golden Gate National Park (San Francisco);

Architects Resource Group/The Office of Cheryl Barton

An interdisciplinary jury evaluated 69 entries to select the award winners.

Detailed information about the Designing the Parks awards and each project,

including photographs and jury comments, is available at

www.designingtheparks.org.

www.nps.gov

Note: The Denver Service Center is the National Park Service’s centralized planning, design and construction project management office. It works with private industry to provide environmentally responsible and fiscally sound products

Related posts

• Parktips – June 2010 (0)
• From the Brooklyn Bridge to Osaka, Japan National Park Service presents park design awards (0)
• Parktips – February 2010 (3)
• National Park Service Parktips – March 2010 (1)
• Parktips – October 2009 (0)

News Release

July 8, 2010

Contact: David Barna (202) 208-6843, david_barna@nps.gov

Sue Husari, (510) 817-1320, sue_husari@nps.gov

Lehnertz Named Pacific West Regional Director Will lead one of seven National Park Service regions

WASHINGTON – National Park Service (NPS) Director Jonathan Jarvis has named Christine S. Lehnertz as the Service’s Pacific West regional director, responsible for 3,000 employees and 58 national parks visited by more than

56 million people annually. She reports for duty in mid-August to the

Oakland, California, headquarters.

“I am delighted that Chris has accepted this opportunity to lead our team in the Pacific West,” Jarvis said. “She is a proven leader and an accomplished manager who brings a fresh perspective to the work we do on behalf of the American people. As deputy superintendent at Yellowstone National Park and most recently as acting associate director for cultural resources in Washington, DC, Chris has shown an uncanny ability to get to the heart of any issue, develop consensus, and get things done. She is respected by her peers and our employees and will be a great addition to our senior management team.”

“The parks in the Pacific West region are an amazing microcosm of the entire National Park System: a mix of stunning natural beauty and authentic American history,” Lehnertz said. "Throughout the region, the National Park Service’s community programs are helping towns and cities preserve their own heritage and create places where kids of all ages can get outside and be active. While the responsibilities of regional director are daunting, I am excited about taking on the challenge and with the prospect of working with the top-notch employees, partners, and volunteers who work in the Pacific West and throughout the National Park Service.”

Lehnertz replaces Jarvis as the Pacific West regional director. The position has been filled on an acting basis since Jarvis was confirmed as National Park Service director in September 2009.

Lehnertz has been the National Park Service’s acting associate director for cultural resources since April 2. She served as deputy superintendent of Yellowstone National Park since 2007 where she was responsible for all aspects of human resources, budget, and natural and cultural resource management and science programs. She also had oversight of more than 100 park concessioners with $100 million in annual gross revenue and ensured that the park’s large portfolio of construction and maintenance projects complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act.

From 2004-2007, Lehnertz served as director of ecosystems protection programs in the Denver regional office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she led a large multi-disciplinary staff to implement federal environmental laws including the Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water, and National Environmental Policy Acts. She managed partnerships with states and tribes, environmental and natural resource departments, and with local government and non-governmental organizations, including responsibilities for $129 million in annual grants. Her work with EPA began in 1990.

Lehnertz earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a secondary education teacher certificate from Metropolitan State College in Denver.

Lehnertz and Shari Dagg, her partner of 16 years, plan to bring their work with golden retriever rescue to their new home in the Bay Area.

-NPS-

Note to Editors: The National Park Service’s seven regional offices provide localized policy, leadership, and technical support to parks and communities. The Pacific West Region comprises Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii, portions of Arizona and Montana and the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Saipan, extending 106 degrees around the globe. The region includes 12.5 million acres of national park land, including 8.5 million acres of wilderness, 159 federally listed threatened and endangered species, 4,418 miles of designated wild and scenic rivers, nearly 100 national natural landmarks, more than 235 national historic landmarks, and more than 7,500 properties listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

Related posts

• Parktips – June 2010 (0)
• $3 million for WWII Japanese American Confinement Sites National Park Service Grants Fund Preservation Efforts (0)
• Parktips – February 2010 (3)
• National Park Service Parktips – July 2010 (0)
• National Park Service Parktips – March 2010 (1)

HARTSEL MEETING JULY 15 TO FOCUS ON PRONGHORN MANAGEMENT IN PARK COUNTY

DENVER, Colo. — The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) will hold a public meeting to gather input on the pronghorn herd in Park County.  Pronghorn population and composition objectives and any other issues of concern regarding pronghorn management in Game Management Units (GMUs) 49, 50, 500, 501, 57, 58, 581, and 511 will be discussed. The Hartsel meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m., July 15 at the Hartsel Community Center, 86 Valley Ave, Hartsel.

“The DOW is eager to gather input from landowners, outdoor enthusiasts, and hunters to help us gauge the appropriate population and male-to-female ratio objectives for a ten-year management plan,” said DOW biologist Heather Halbritter.  “Wildlife belongs to all of the public and we’d like everyone to have a say.”

To submit comments about the South Park pronghorn herd, please contact Heather Halbritter at 303-291-7367 or email her at Heather.Halbritter@state.co.us.

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Related posts

• Parktips – June 2010 (0)
• WILD TURKEY HUNTING SEMINARS (1)
• JOIN THE DOW AT NATIONAL GET OUTDOORS DAY, SATURDAY, JUNE12 (0)
• IMPROVED DUCK POPULATIONS, HUNTING ACCESS AWAIT COLORADO WATERFOWL HUNTERS (0)
• COLORADO LANDOWNER VOUCHER COMMITTEE SEEKS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (1)