First Female Parks Chief Appointed
Senate must confirm Fran P. Mainella of Florida for the post.

by Michael Doyle
Fresno Bee, June 5, 2001

Yosemite, Sequoia and the nation’s other national parks will get a groundbreaking new overseer, as President Bush on Monday tapped a Florida woman to be National Park Service director.

If confirmed by the Senate, Fran P. Mainella will be the first female park service director in the agency’s long history. She also will instantly face some multibillion-dollar challenges, including many in California.

"We’re looking forward to having a leader," said Kris Fister, spokeswoman for Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. "The information we have from people who’ve worked with her has been positive."

Just last week, Bush visited Sequoia to draw attention to his administration’s hopes of cutting away at the park service maintenance backlog, now roughly estimated at $4.9 billion. It will be Mainella’s job in part to help navigate this campaign through Capitol Hill, where lawmakers frequently impose their own park service priorities.

"We’re going to be competing with everybody out there for our projects," Fister said.

Mainella has directed Florida’s Division of Recreation and Parks since 1989, long before President Bush's brother Jeb became governor of the state. The experience of administering 153 state parks gives her more specific park-related background than some of her predecessors.

But the University of Connecticut graduate also is moving into a significantly bigger league. In Florida she was responsible for 500,000 acres, about 260,000 acres less than Yosemite alone has. The Florida Park Service itself wasn’t established until 1935, about four decades after Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon were made national parks.

State parks, moreover, often stress recreation, whereas national parks require a mix of public use and resource protection.

"The issues are enormous," said John McCamman, chief of staff for Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.

This week, for instance, a key House Appropriations subcommittee is set to approve the first version of a parks funding bill.

Radanovich, whose congressional district includes much-visited Yosemite Valley, is supporting legislative report language that essentially tells the park service not to start implementing a controversial external bus system for Yosemite visitors.

Residents of the Yosemite gateway communities have voiced concern about the park’s plan for funneling visitors through a bus system.
The challenge facing Mainella is highlighted by the fact that other lawmakers, including Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, are circulating a letter urging the park service to press ahead with all facets of the Yosemite plan.

Though Mainella hasn’t faced the likes of Yosemite before, she has earned solid marks from those who’ve seen her in action. The National Sporting Goods Association gave her the gold medal for running the nation’s best state park system.

"I think she’s a strong nominee," said Tom Kiernan, president of the 450,000-member National Parks and Conservation Association. "She clearly is a seasoned manager."