Yosemite Park Boss Resigns

by Mark Grossi
Fresno Bee - October 3, 2002

Yosemite National Park Superintendent David Mihalic announced Wednesday he would resign rather than move to the helm of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The National Park Service last month notified Mihalic, 56, that he would swap jobs with the Great Smokies superintendent, Michael Tollefson, 55. Tollefson now will have to wait until Mihalic officially leaves Jan. 3 to take over at Yosemite.

"I was the deputy superintendent [in the Great Smokies] 15 years ago," Mihalic said. "Some of the same issues I dealt with at the time are back on the table. I think it would just be best for the National Park Service, best for the Great Smokies and best for me to choose to retire."

Mihalic, who took over the Yosemite top spot in 1999, said he was not forced out of the park service. Echoing comments from National Park Service officials in Washington, D.C., he said the move was part of a national shake-up. Mihalic added that he knew the swap was one of the options being discussed.

There were rumors last week that Mihalic had "crossed swords" with Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, over parts of the controversial Yosemite Valley Plan, and that Radanovich was behind Mihalic's move.

Radanovich has criticized the park service's valley plan, but the criticisms had been handled in a professional way with Mihalic, said a Radanovich aide, who wished to remain unnamed. The aide said Radanovich had no part in Mihalic's move.

Radanovich, chairman of the House National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Subcommittee, issued a statement Wednesday saying Mihalic would be missed at Yosemite. "I think this is a tremendous loss for the park service," Radanovich's statement read. "Mr. Mihalic has had a very distinguished career in the National Park Service, especially as superintendent of Yosemite."

The long-delayed valley plan brought Mihalic to Yosemite three years ago as Interior Department officials quietly expressed disappointment over slow progress in implementing the plan. Coming from Glacier National Park in Montana, Mihalic moved both the valley and the Merced River restoration plans forward. But, like previous superintendents, he faced opposition.

Many environmental groups, including Friends of Yosemite Valley and the Sierra Club, criticized parts of the valley plan, which went through a similar gantlet several times after the park began putting it together in the 1970s. Mihalic said he has worked with all interest groups and surrounding communities on the plan. Criticism and controversy continue, but he said he believes relationships are better now.

"You try to satisfy everybody," Mihalic said. "But in a place like Yosemite, not everybody will be satisfied. You wind up making a decision for the best values of the park."

The American Alpine Club was among the groups that supported Mihalic's efforts. He arrived at a time when the club had filed a lawsuit over a campground in the valley. The legal action became moot when the plan changed under Mihalic.

"I think he did a great job," said Linda McMillan, vice president of the Golden, Colo.-based club. "He is a very bright man with a visionary mind. He took a plan that had been wallowing in limbo and moved it ahead."

Besides his work at Glacier, Mihalic was superintendent at Mammoth Cave National Park. He served there in the late 1980s and his three-year stint at the Great Smokies began in 1985. After he completes his 33-year park service career in January, Mihalic and his wife, Jeri, will move from Yosemite with their two children to their home in Montana.