Behind the Scenes: Digging deeper into the National Park Service

YAY it’s Tuesday! Welcome to those old and new 🙂 New Episode out today with Eric Leonard, Superintendent of High Plains Group. Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉

Our conversation with Eric is unique for TWO reasons.

1. Eric is the Superintendent of the High Plains Group — while stories of Superintendents at National Parks are our bread and butter, chatting with Eric opened my eyes (& I’m confident will do the same for you) to the myriad of stories to be told across historic sites, national monuments, etc. While I learn A TON every episode, this episode might have taken the cake.

2. This episode focuses less on a specific national park site and more so weaves a story together of Eric’s experience in the Park Service, highlighting riveting stories and sites of historical importance (keep scrolling to get a sneak peak into what these are 😜, a hint involves a vast arsenal of nuclear missiles 👀).

We are back with “The Rule of Three”: My top three moments from the interview, three new things I learned in talking with Eric and three facts I learned about National Park Sites.

Top 3 Moments From Interview (guess you’ll have to listen to the episode to get the full context 😉)

1. Memorable Helicopter Ride: Eric sharing about his experience flying over Guadalupe Mountains National Park (he was superintendent at the time) in a helicopter to assess the current status of a forest fire

   • “18 year old me would not have thought this was possible” - Eric

2. Learning about the dynamics during the Cold War: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site pays tribute to the intensity of the cold war and also highlights some of the dark humor of that time (see pic below 👀). Eric reminds us “the set of facilities that were built in 1962 to execute a nuclear deterrence mission. They were never ever meant for tourists ever” — Jump in & listen now.

3. Shelton Johnson: Eric brings up a memorable quote (listen here) from Shelton (well known Park Ranger out of Yosemite) in sharing his passion for folks exploring more in the Park Service than the heavy hitters:

   • “The parks you haven't heard of are the parks you should prioritize to visit because they might tell you something new and you're going to come in very possibly with very little expectation and come away going, whoa”

3 Things I Learned Interviewing Eric

1. “Treed Out”: A term used in wildfires signifying that the fire isn’t moving anymore. Old trees may still be smoldering but there isn’t much fuel left for the fire.

2. Living History: A type of historical display where you're wearing a historic costume, portraying someone from the past. In the 90s, the most common articulation of this was civil war reenacting.

3. Our Defense System Likened to Coffee: Our early missile systems (Atlas, Titan) are like Starbucks (liquid-fueled) where as the Minuteman Missile is solid fueled, namely the Keurig of nuclear deterrence (hence the 30 minute Domino’s Delivery artwork). Hear it for yourself here.

   • For those listening to the episode, I have since seen Oppenheimer (and LOVED it). Fun Fact: Oppenheimer makes a passing reference to the Minuteman Defense System.

3 Facts About National Park Sites

1. Fort Smith National Historic Site: Lawmen: Bass Reeves, a post Civil War story on Paramount Plus about an African-American law enforcement officer highlights Fort Smith National Historic Site. Fort Smith is the only National Park Site with a gallows and is where people were sent for capitol punishment.

2. Guadalupe Mountains National Park: With over a mile of vertical elevation change, this park showcases 8 of the 10 highest peaks in Texas. Eric has a hot take on the negative effects of ranking and promoting the least visited parks, as Guadalupe Mountains has suffered at the hand of this.

3. High Plains Group: Each site (Amache National Historic Site, Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, Capulin Volcano National Monument and Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site) have a unique American story and are tied together by prairie landscapes.

Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions

This section will always highlight my favorite picks from the past week in the outdoor & adventure world

• InReach Messenger: For anyone who has listened to a few episodes, I’ve shared my sister & I’s experience in Mt. Rainier. When I was in Glacier a few weeks later I met a girl who had the Garmin InReach Messenger (@Garmin, send me one 😜) & I instantly knew what I wish my sister & I had had. I would highly recommend satellite communication if you are going to be in the backcountry without service. Apple is also making progress, offering satellite SOS on your phone.

• Field Mag: A place for good design and the great outdoors, published weekly to inspire readers to get outside and explore more. It is a publication based in NYC — I so badly wish I had come across it while living there. They have a ton of articles on how to build an at-home sauna, you could say I’m intrigued. 👀

• WSJ Article: National Park Visits Are Surging, and One Firm Is Making Unexpected Millions: Booz-Allen nets a small fee every time a visitor makes a reservation on Recreation.gov. While some think these revenues should go back to the parks, others argue that the structure gives contractors incentive to continuously improve. What are your thoughts? Shoot me a line.

Remember — Both this newsletter & the podcast are on a continuous journey. I hope to share information that is valuable, interesting and leaves you eagerly telling your friends about it. I need your help getting there: I am open to feedback, ideas, suggestions, all of the above. And get your friends to sign up at linktr.ee/whorunsthispark 

• Are there segments in this newsletter that you wish were included?

• Are there questions you wished I asked the superintendents?

Hit reply to this email and let me know!!

K bye, love y’all — see you next Tuesday!!

Maddie

p.s. Get your friends to sign up for the newsletter at linktr.ee/whorunsthispark.