New superintendent for Olympic National Park noted for work amid controversy in Florida
Karen Gustin will become the 14th superintendent of Olympic National Park in July. -- National Park Service photo
By Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News
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Karen Gustin, superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Fla., about 45 miles west of Miami, will replace Bill Laitner, who retired in January.
"I am thrilled to be coming," Gustin said in an interview on her wireless phone while tending to her daughter's horse, Sundance, at their Florida home.
"I have worked all over the United States, and this is a great opportunity to get to know the local folks and staff at Olympic."
Gustin — who will be the 14th superintendent of the park and the second woman superintendent after Maureen E. Finnerty 18 years ago — said she hasn't been in Olympic National Park.
But she has visited Port Angeles area about a half-dozen times.
"We've traveled in that area a lot," she said, "and I distinctly remember taking the ferry in Port Angeles to Victoria."
Exciting opportunity
She said the chance to be the top administrator of a large national park is exciting to her.
"Just the opportunity to work at a big national park with the Elwha [River] dam restoration project will be really exciting to work on all of the planning issues," Gustin said.
She said until she arrives and begins looking into all aspects of Olympic, she won't know what her specific goals and main projects will be.
"I have a lot of experience in a lot of areas, including areas on coasts and issues related to Native American tribes," she said, "and I am looking forward to getting to know the community and how we can work with them on all of the issues at Olympic National Park,"
National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, who made the formal announcement on Monday, said he was impressed by Gustin's work on complicated issues at her current post next to Everglades National Park, of which Big Cypress is not part of.
When Everglades National Park was established in 1947, Big Cypress was originally intended to be included.
But because the land had not been purchased from its private owners, Big Cypress was made into one of the Interior Department's first two national preserves.
Gustin, 51, has been superintendent of Big Cypress since May 2005.
Before then, she was superintendent of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the remote reaches of northern Michigan.
Controversial issues
"Karen Gustin has shown the ability to collaborate with park users and community groups on controversial issues like off-road vehicle use." Jarvis said in a statement.
"I am impressed with her ability to work with partners to accomplish park goals."
At Big Cypress, she also was involved in panther management, a news release from the National Park Service said.
The panther — an endangered species — makes its home in the cypress forest, and the issue drew ire from both animal activists and off-road users.
"There were strong feelings on both sides of the issue, but ultimately it is about listening to both sides and seeing if we can figure one [solution] out that we all can live with," Gustin said.
She said she plans to work that way with the community in Port Angeles as well.
"I am eager to meet partners and sister organizations that we collaborate with," she said.
She oversaw the largest prescribed fire program in the national park system at Big Cyprus, led construction planning for a new welcome center and coordinated a complex lands management program, including more than 160 private property holdings, the National Park Service said.
Other assignments
Before her assignments in Florida and Michigan, Gustin was in the Pacific as superintendent of War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam and American Memorial Park on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.
She also held leadership positions in Alaska at Katmai National Park and Preserve, Aniakchak National Monument and Alagnak Wild River, and was superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa, in 1994.
Gustin is a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in outdoor recreation
Her husband, Grant, and their two children, Keely and Ross, will also make the cross-country trek with her — as well as probably their horses, Gustin said.
"We are moving just about as far away as you can get in the contiguous United States," she said of the diagonal journey from south Florida to the North Olympic Peninsula.
"But change is good.
"I've had a great time at every job I have had, and I think that this will be no exception."
Gustin said the timing of the new job — starting in July — is good because it will allow her children to finish out the semester.
"It will be really good for us to come in July because it is the first time that we will move that it isn't in the middle of the year," Gustin said.
"It will give the kids some time to get settled in before they start in school, wherever we end up living," she said.
"We are really looking forward to getting into the park and hopefully getting the horses on some trails."
Acting Olympic National Park Superintendent Sue McGill remains in that position until returning to the deputy superintendent role when Gustin arrives in July.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: April 21. 2008 9:00PM