NPS Director Jarvis said the Waco Mammoth Site would be a great addition to the National Park System/City of Waco
In an unusual public statement, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis has spoken highly of adding the Waco Mammoth Site in Texas to the National Park System.
The director visited the site on Tuesday and met with community leaders who have been seeking national park desigination for the site. As either Congress or the president must designate units to the park system, either through legislation or an executive order under the Antiquities Act, it's rare that Park Service officials speak so highly in favor of adding a site. But after touring the site Tuesday, Director Jarvis said it would be a welcome addition to the park system.
The director discussed how sites are added to the National Park System and talked about the benefits associated with becoming a National Park Service unit. In 2013, national park visitors contributed $26.5 billion to the nation's economy and supported almost 240,000 jobs across the country.
'The Waco Mammoth Site offers an exciting opportunity to engage students, visitors and scientists alike with the story of these extinct mammoths. The enthusiasm that the community expressed for National Park Service involvement with this site at today's public meeting is inspiring,' said Director Jarvis in a prepared statement. 'As the National Park Service looks toward our centennial next year, places like the Waco Mammoth Site provide great opportunities for more Americans to develop a lifelong relationship with parks as places where they can play and learn about amazing stories contained at sites like this.'
Congress directed the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of the Waco Mammoth Site, which was completed in 2008. It confirmed that the Waco Mammoth resources are nationally significant, worthy of permanent preservation and suitable and feasible for inclusion in the national park system.
In 1978, Columbian Mammoth fossils were first discovered at the site, and it remains the nation's first and only recorded discovery of a nursery herd (females and their offspring) of Pleistocene mammoths. The remains of 24 mammoths have been found to date, 19 of which were part of the nursery herd, and more remains from the Ice Age are likely in the area. The nursery herd died at the same moment in time as a result of a natural catastrophic event, the skeletons are relatively intact, and the individual mammoths range in age from 3 to 65 years old.The site offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to examine the matriarchal herd structure and behavior of this extinct species. For example, juvenile mammoth skeletons rest atop the long tusks of adults, suggesting that the adults were trying to save their offspring from the rising waters and sucking mud. The site has already revealed other Ice Age fossils, including camel, saber-toothed cat, dwarf antelope, and giant tortoise.
'The city is proud to be partnered with community leaders and Baylor University in preserving and protecting the Waco Mammoth site. We welcome the National Park Service to join us in this partnership,' said Waco Mayor Malcolm Duncan, Jr. 'We look forward to sharing the benefits of this collaboration with visitors from across the country for generations to come. We are very grateful for the contributions of our partners. We thank Director Jarvis and his staff for coming to look. It is our sincere hope we can share the discovery with the rest of this great country in working with the National Park Service.'
Comments
I see value in removing Jarvis as NPS director. What kind of bureaucrat recommends adding to a system he can't presently manage WITH steady increases to his budget? The guy has dropped visitation to the NPS, implemented fees across the system and wonders why visitation has dropped and now this? Only in the federal government is such stupidity so handsomely rewarded.
I totally agree with SmokiesBackpacker. Director Jarvis does not have a clue on what it takes to become a National Park and his visit and statements to the people of Texas at the Waco Mammoth Site are just irresponsible. There is a process to be followed to determine if a site has the national significance, suitability and feasibility to become a National Park. Perhaps Mr. Jarvis should consult with his staff before visiting potential new park areas and making irresponsible statements.
And this is another opportunity for the Red Queen ["Off with her head!!!"] folks to emerge. How can I tell? It's a day of the week ending in 'y' and Jon Jarvis' name has been mentioned publicly.
My best understanding is that when Jon Jarvis was nominated for the position most old time parkies were happy that one of their own made it up from the ranks. And since he entered office he has been mired in one after another of the no-win issues that would have been troublesome to anyone.
To immediately start yelling for his head on any issue you disagree with is as much a confession on your part as an indictment on his part.
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Uh, gang, so who does he answer to? Quit picking on the sorry SOB for doing as he's directed. Not autonomous, friends. A yes man at this point.
Mr.Jarvis has been in office to long and does not have the leadership skills necessary to take the NPS into our second century. He cannot or will not lead and should resign. In these challenging times the best service he can do for our wonderful system of National Parks is to give up his office. He has stayed to long for all the good he can do. We need fresh leadership and direction. Is this too much to ask? Send him into honorable retirement
Whether or not this is a suitable addition to the NPS, it's a bit amusing to see that those with critical comments above clearly didn't take time to do any fact-checking. This site has, in fact, been through the entire review process to see if it meets criteria for an NPS unit. Those studies occurred back in 2005-08, long before Jarvis was appointed Director, and found this site met all those criteria.
The House passed a bill in 2009 to approve the Waco Mammoth National Monument Establishment Act. The bill failed in the Senate, due to resistance by one of the senators from Texas, who reportedly would support it only if no federal funds were spent. This raised questions about how there could be a "national" monument with no federal funds, so the effort failed. Supporters then turned to the effort to have the monument established by presidential proclamation, and they invited Jarvis to visit and try to gain his support for that approach.
Based on what I've read, the local groups have already done some impressive development of the area. That begs the question about whether NPS involvement is needed, but that's a separate question from whether the site meet the criteria for inclusion in the system.
Give up Arlington Bridge and the GW and BW Parkways (as a start) and you would have more than enough funds for Waco which seems to be far more worthy then many other units currently in the system.