Behind the Scenes: Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Interview

HAPPY EARTH DAY PARK PEOPLE! We are releasing this episode (an interview with Chip Jenkins, Grand Teton Superintendent) on a Monday so that we can release on Earth Day!! Grand Teton NP was one of the first parks I went to as a kid so talking with Chip was a DREAM (also he was just awesome)! Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉

What a JOY this interview was!!! Chip’s emotion and care for Grand Teton National Park was evident — check out my top three moments from the interview, three new things I learned from Chip and three facts about Grand Teton National Park 🤠. My favorite quotes from Chip will also be sprinkled throughout the newsletter.

Top 3 Moments From Interview — Listen here

1. Chip tearing up about the beauty of families coming to Grand Teton National Park: There is such beauty in families taking the time and energy to take their kids to places like Grand Teton, signaling to the next generation that spending time together outdoors is important and valued. This might be my favorite moment from any interview thus far — I’m not kidding!

2. Chip’s college experience that changed the course of his career: Chip spent a quarter in Colorado & Utah learning about the challenges managing lands and maintaining communities. He met a memorable man, both the county commissioner and a rancher who shared both his love for the land and his deep concern that the economic and societal pressures on the land were making it harder for his family to make a living — this experience prompted Chip to pursue a career in land management.

3. Learning about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (of which Grand Teton is a part of) successes over the past 60 years (as a result of more intentional conservation and protection) — it is nice to hear good news every once in awhile amidst climate change discussions.

   • An ecosystem full of bears, wolves restored, a recovered bald eagle population, and peregrine falcons, trumpeter swans and beavers being restored — all within the last 60 years!

3 Things I Learned Interviewing Chip

1. “Dutch Oven Diplomacy”: Bates Wilson (known as father of Canyonlands National Park) would bring people together around the land that he loved and help them explore and find common ground in thinking about the conservation of those places. An experiential form of making change — I love this idea!

2. Citizen Stewardship: Chip was the Superintendent of Lewis and Clark National Historic Park right before the 200th bicentennial when the historic Fort Clatsop burned down 30 DAYS before the commemoration 🤯. It was in this moment when the community both locally and internationally stepped up to help rebuild the fort that Chip learned the importance of citizen stewardship — I also (in him sharing the story) learned a new (and inspiring) term.

3. Wildlife Overpasses: To be honest, I didn’t know these were a thing, but they are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely, which is SO COOL!! Chip mentioned that Santa Monica National Recreation Area is in construction of building the world’s largest wildlife overpass.

3 Fun & Interesting Facts About Grand Teton

1. The first Global Summit of Ungulate Migrations was held in Grand Teton last year: Ungulates are animals like deer, moose, elk, and pronghorn, and this summit brought together researchers and managers from around the world (think the Serengeti, Mongolia, Europe, Arctic regions — truly global!!) to discuss the ungulate migrations.

2. Grand Teton is primarily a day park as only 13-15% of daily visitors spend a night in the park. That means that the other 85% of visitors are shuffling in and out of the park every day. To put into context, Grand Teton, in the summer, gets between 18-25K people every day and Jackson, Grand Teton’s neighboring community only has a population of 10K. So, that means DOUBLE Jackson’s population is driving in and out of the park every day 🤯.

3. The Kelly Parcel: a piece of land within the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) boundary, but owned by the state of Wyoming is in the middle of negotiations between the park and state. It is a part of the School Trust Lands, meaning upon Wyoming selling the land, the money would fund education in the state. GTNP is interested in buying this land to protect it from future development because it is of critical importance for wildlife migration.

Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions

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

• Denizens of the Steep: Chip recommended this short film, and it talks about how we, as adventurers, can acknowledge when an activity that we are doing is affecting the environment we are recreating in. They unpack how backcountry skiing is potentially negatively impacting the Teton Bighorn Sheep — it is an inspiring watch and whilst un-packing this tension also highlights some sick fresh powder runs 😮‍💨🎿.

• Shār Snacks: An Austin-based brand that is “Good for your body. Good for the earth. Good for your taste buds. Good for your best buds.” I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago (I’d been eyeing it at the coffee shop for awhile) and loved it — the packaging is my favorite part, with a cardboard container that makes sharing so fun and easy. A good sturdy container to take on hikes 😄.

• Wild Ideas Worth Living an REI Co-Op Publication: By far one of my favorite podcasts, Wild Ideas Worth Living with Shelby Stanger was a piece of the puzzle, inspiring me to go all in on my podcast — if you are looking for inspiration, this podcast will ignite the fire. I also just started Shelby’s book, Will to Wild and will keep you all posted on what I think. A dream of mine is to be interviewed by Shelby — fingers crossed!!!

K thx for making it this far, love y’all — see you all for our next episode release May 7th!!

Maddie

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