National Park Service Oral History

In this episode, Bill Wade describes how he had to bend the rules to safeguard resources when he was superintendent of Shenandoah National Park in the 1980s. The result? Some admonishments; a few accolades; and a sense of a job well done. Thanks to the Association of National Park Rangers for this oral history collaboration with the Park History Program.

In the 1980s Meg Weesner was among a pioneer generation of women to move into Natural Resources Management in the National Park Service. During her career she discovered that collaboration with partners was the best way to preserve and protect valuable resources.

In college Sandra Weber decided to major in a subject she loved--history. Following her passions and gifts led to a job at the Clara Barton National Historic Site, the first step in a career with the National Park Service.

Do you realize how many people it takes to make the National Park System work? Many are like Flo Six Townsend, who found her Park Service passion in career development and employee training. In 2013 we talked as part of the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project. Townsend reflected on her satisfaction is helping others advance their careers and how she herself discovered and developed her own talents in the National Park Service.

Dick Martin served as the second superintendent Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska between 1985 and 1990. The assignment, in hold interviewer Alison Steiner, taught him how to work with communities in the face of controversy. This interview was part of the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project.