MORGANTOWN — A Morgantown native and University High School graduate will be the next leader of the National Park Service.
The Department of Interior, which oversees the Park Service, announced Friday that Margaret Everson has been named to the post. Her official title is “Counselor to the Secretary, exercising the delegable authorities of the Director of the National Park Service.”
She was appointed to the position by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to succeed current Park Service leader David Vela, whose pending retirement was also announced Friday.
“I can’t be more humbled or honored with his confidence in me,” Everson said of Bernhardt’s decision.
The Dominion Post had the opportunity to talk with Everson by phone Friday morning before the announcement went out.
Everson is her married name, she said. She was Margaret Hopkins growing up near Sunset Beach in the Cheat Lake area. Her parents still live in Morgantown; her father is retired from WVU, her mother from teaching at St. Francis school.
“I had a wonderful childhood tromping around outside, in big open spaces,” she said. “I think Morgantown is really where I got my roots and my foundation for a lifetime of work in conservation.”
She and her friends would catch small-mouth bass at the McKinney farm pond and ride horses on what is now the golf course, she said. She graduated from UHS in 1992.
She attended college not to far from home, at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa., east of Pittsburgh near Altoona. She majored in biology with a concentration in marine biology, an unusual offering for an inland school, she said.
From there, she went to work in Washington, D.C, for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies then headed to Vermont Law School, which had the best environmental law program in the country, she said.
In 2001, she began work at Interior in various roles as law clerk, policy analyst and attorney. Much of her work dealt with restoring the south Florida ecosystem and the Everglades. She then served as counselor to the Fish and Wildlife Service director. After some time in Kentucky and Virginia she spent four years as chief policy officer for Ducks Unlimited in D.C.
In 2018, she said, she came back to Interior as principle deputy director of Fish and Wildlife, appointed to the role by Bernhardt, whom she’d known during her first stint at interior, when he was solicitor there.
The deteriorating condition of the national parks is frequently in the news and Everson knows she has a job ahead of her. “This is a very challenging time for the Park Service. For years, the maintenance and the backlog of deferred maintenance has built up,” she said, and now totals $12 billion worth of work to catch up on.
Everson said she’s thankful a landmark piece of legislation, the Great American Outdoors Act, recently passed Congress and was signed into law on Tuesday.
As previously reported, the act does two things. One, it mandates that Congress fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million per year.
Two, it establishes the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on federal lands, for up to $1.9 billion per year.
About $1.3 billion per year will go to the Park Service, Everson said. In the next 90 days, she must deliver a report to President Trump with strategies and list of projects to tackle using the new money.
“It is a big lift but it is much needed,” she said. “For far too long these buildings have been neglected and we are excited to be able to get on top of those [tasks], really addressing the importance of access and opportunities for all Americans.”
Everson quoted an inscription on a plaque the Roosevelt Arch in Yellowstone Park, celebrating the inspiration for the park: “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.” Along with providing visitors great experiences, she said, national parks are job creators and economic investments. In West Virginia last year, they produced $88 million in economic benefits.
“National Parks are so important to me personally and to the state as well,” she said. “Looking at the opportunities that this historic piece of legislation that the president has signed, being able to really capture that as we move forward here in the next couple of months, is really personally exciting.”
The Park Service employs more than 20,000 people across 419 national parks.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., spearheaded the Great American Outdoors Act. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was a cosponsor.
Manchin is also ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Told about Everson’s appointment, Manchin praised Vela’s 30 years of service. “I trust that as a native West Virginian, Margaret Everson shares this commitment to our public lands and I look forward to working with her to ensure all that is entrusted to the National Park Service is protected for generations to come.”
Capito said, “I’m thrilled to hear one of our own West Virginians will be serving as acting director of the National Park Service. Margaret has an impressive background and is the right person for the job. She also understands the importance of preserving and maintaining our public lands for future generations, our economy, and our environment.”
Mentioning the Outdoors Act, Capito said, “I look forward to working together with Margaret to prioritize these conservation efforts so future generations can continue to enjoy West Virginia and our nation’s public lands.”
Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., cosponsored one of the two House versions of the bill. He said, “In West Virginia we take great pride in our scenic beauty, like the New River Gorge National River and the Appalachian Trial. For a West Virginia native to hold this position and understand the treasure of our national parks is remarkable. I look forward to working with Margaret Everson so our parks can continue operations for years to come.”
Bernhardt also offered some kind words. “Margaret Everson is a great leader who will provide a steady hand as this transition takes place for the National Park Service.”
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