[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 178 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING JONATHAN B. JARVIS, THE 18TH DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONALD S. BEYER, JR.

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2016

  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, today I stand in recognition of Jonathan B. 
Jarvis, the 18th Director of the National Park Service.
  Director Jarvis, a native of Virginia, began his career with the 
National Park Service in 1976 as a seasonal interpreter in Washington, 
D.C. Today, he manages that agency whose mission is to preserve 
America's most treasured landscapes and cultural icons.
  Director Jarvis's 40-year career has taken him from ranger to 
resource management specialist to park biologist to superintendent of 
parks such as Craters of the Moon, North Cascades, Wrangell-St. Elias, 
and Mount Rainier. Before being confirmed as the 18th Director of the 
National Park Service on September 24, 2009, Mr. Jarvis served as 
regional director of the bureau's Pacific West Region.
  Today, he is responsible for overseeing an agency with more than 
22,000 employees, a $3 billion budget, and 413 national parks that 
attract more than 320 million visitors every year who generate $30 
billion in economic benefit across the nation.
  Director Jarvis has reinvigorated the National Park Service's role as 
an international advocate for protected areas and recognized world 
leader in cultural and natural resource management.
  Managing the National Park Service through its centennial in 2016, 
Director Jarvis has focused on several key areas that are critical for 
the future: enhancing stewardship of the places entrusted to the 
Service's care; maximizing the educational potential of parks and 
programs; engaging new generations and audiences, and ensuring the 
welfare and fulfillment of National Park Service employees.
  Director Jarvis speaks frequently about climate change, 
sustainability, the outdoors as a source of public health, and the 
parks as a unifying, inspirational force for the nation. His blueprint 
for the agency's second century, A Call to Action, calls for 
innovative, ambitious, yet practical ways to fulfill the National Park 
Service's promise to America in the 21st century.
  From a seasonal interpreter in the year of our nation's bicentennial 
to the head of an internationally known institution on its 100th 
birthday, Jarvis has gained a thorough knowledge of these great 
American treasures, the national parks.
  ``America's National Park System is a gift from past generations to 
this and succeeding generations,'' said Director Jarvis. ``And while 
the challenges we face today--like climate change, shrinking open 
space, habitat destruction, non-native species, and air and water 
pollution--could not have been imagined when this agency was 
established in 1916, our mission remains the same: to preserve this 
nation's natural and cultural heritage, unimpaired for the enjoyment of 
this and future generations.''

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