New Olympic National Park superintendent on the job
Karen Gustin settled in as new Olympic National Park superintendent this week. -- Photo by Dave Logan for Peninsula Daily News
By Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News
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"I don't care too much about the box. What really matters is what is out there," said Gustin, 51, motioning toward the entrance to Olympic National Park on Wednesday.
Gustin, who replaces Bill Laitner as the park's new superintendent, settled into her office at 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, on Monday.
Laitner retired in January. Sue McGill served as interim park superintendent.
National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced Gustin's appointment in April.
He said that Gustin had shown an ability to collaborate with park users and community groups on controversial issues during her three-year tenure as superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Fla.
Gustin said her first priorities at Olympic National Park are to acquaint herself with details of the Elwha dam removal project and issues of access to the park, and to talk with community leaders.
"I plan on getting out into the communities as soon as I can," she said.
"I want to hear what everyone thinks and wants to see happen at the park."
The Elwha Dam and the Glens Canyon Dam are to be removed after 2012 in an estimated $315 million project to restore salmon habitat by allowing the river, dammed since 1913, to revert to its natural state.
As for access, "Wilderness and human interaction are familiar issues to me," Gustin said.
"At Big Cyprus, we had panthers, in Alaska, we had bears, here we have the elk."
At Big Cyprus, she also dealt with controversy surrounding off-road vehicles accessing areas of the park, she said.
First act an agreement
Gustin's first act as superintendent pre-dated her move into the park headquarters.
She represented the park at the signing of an agreement with eight tribes at Ocean Shores on July 10.
The memorandum of understanding set up a basis for future discussions and mutual projects, participants said.
Tribal members and National Park Service officials drafted the document to develop a unified process to dictate communications among tribes and the park.
Signing the document were leaders of the Hoh, Makah, Quileute, Quinault, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S'Klallam, Port Gamble S'Klallam and Skokomish tribes.
"That was a wonderful event to start off on," Gustin said.
"It was so wonderful to start out by meeting with all eight tribes."
Before she was appointed, she had not visited the Olympic National Park, she said.
Since she and her family arrived in Port Angeles in early July, she has visited Kalaloch and Hurricane Ridge.
She's eager to see more.
"I will be getting out back country hiking as soon as I can," she said.
"Even if it is just for a few hours at a time — but how can I do well without getting out there?"
Death Valley
Gustin began her governmental career 27 years ago working at Death Valley in California.
Since then she has lived in just about every area in the United States, "except for the very Northeastern part of the U.S.," Gustin said.
Before her assignment in Florida, Gustin served as superintendent of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in northern Michigan.
Before then, she 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.
During her career, she's dealt with nearly every climate.
"Cold weather doesn't bother me," she said. "Neither does hot weather."
Gustin, a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in outdoor recreation, always vowed to stay in the Western states, she said.
"Well I haven't stayed in the Western parks, but I always knew I would end up here," she said.
Her husband, Grant, and their two children, Keely, 15, and Ross, 12, made the cross-country trek with her — and her daughter's horse, Sundance, will arrive soon, Gustin said.
"I had to sell my horse, but I'll be in the market for another before too long," she said.
Family members have moved as far as they possibly could within the contiguous United States, Gustin pointed out.
"But they are thrilled to be here," Gustin said.
"This is a wonderful part of the country to be."
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: July 23. 2008 9:00PM