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Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin Hanging Up His Hat

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After 35 years with the National Park Service, most recently as Grand Canyon superintendent, Steve Martin has decided to retire. NPS handout.

After 35 years with the National Park Service, Steve Martin has decided it's time to hang up his Stetson. The superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park has announced that he'll retire as of January 1.

Mr. Martin's departure opens one of the most-sought superintendencies in the National Park System and closes the career of a man who started out as a ranger and worked his way just about to the very top of the National Park Service. Not too surprisingly, along the way from his first job at the Grand Canyon as a backcountry river ranger to his current position -- with a stint as deputy director of the Park Service and a few superintendent roles in between -- he gathered some controversy.

Some inside the Park Service associate Mr. Martin with the "core ops" budgeting approach wielded by the Intermountain Region, one that many saw as merely a tool to cut both unwanted programs and personnel. Others questioned his appointment of his wife to a newly created "Group Superintendent" role within the region overseeing three other park superintendents.

During Mr. Martin's stint as regional director a case arose around Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in which the Indian trader was accused -- wrongly, it turned out -- of embezzling from the trading post. After a lengthy, and costly, series of investigations, including one by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General, Park Service officials determined that Intermountain Region investigators and managers who looked into the business operations at Hubbell Trading exhibited "poor case management" and "poor judgment and performance."

Neither Mr. Martin nor his deputy at the time, Mike Snyder, ever responded to inquiries from the Traveler about how they handled that investigation. (It has now been two years since the Traveler filed a Freedom of Information request with the Interior Department requesting its investigative reports into the matter and not a single page has been turned over.)

A lawsuit filed by the Indian trader, Billy Malone, included both Mr. Martin and Mr. Snyder as defendants, accusing them of misconduct and wrongful seizure of property belonging to Mr. Malone. A judge later removed the Park Service officials from the matter, saying he didn't think a case could be built against them.

Mr. Martin's career included stops as superintendent of Grand Teton, Denali and Gates of Arctic national parks, various roles in Yellowstone and Voyageurs national parks, as well as in the agency's Intermountain Regional Office in Denver where he served as regional director from September 2003 to April 2005, when he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as deputy director. Two years later he returned to the field as Grand Canyon superintendent.

At Gates of the Arctic, he worked with Alaska Natives on cooperative conservation involving subsistence, wilderness and resource protection, and eco-tourism, according to a Park Service release.

As Grand Canyon superintendent, Mr. Martin advocated for high-flow releases of Lake Powell through the Glen Canyon Dam so that they might revitalize the Colorado River corridor through the park.

“Living and working in some of the most beautiful places on earth, with some of the best people in the world, has been a great privilege and adventure—for me and our family," Mr. Martin said in a prepared statement. "We have great memories of places and people and now look forward to spending more time out and about in national parks and protected places around the world.”

Comments

The release of information under the FOIA under Martin has been either refused, delayed to a time that would make it noneffective or denied that a documented event even happened. I guess that's what one learns after 2 years in Washington, transparency.
There is MUCH that will come out with the motivation being being to correct what has been a flawed and personally driven effort to diminish the mules presence at the Canyon as much as possible with the concessionaire's (hotel management corp.) quiet support. This could and should be turned around to represent what MANY have voiced to me that, "This Canyon AND This Ride IS THE BEST ON THE PLANET."
For those so emotional about this issue, I suggest stepping back and prepare for an extended effort. Remember it's taken Superintendent Martin two years of "PROCESS" to put his preferences into effect. With the new Congress being seated in January and all funding for NPS goes through the House there could be increased scrutiny over efforts such as this one.
I have said many times to my riders and hikers alike, "there is nothing that can't be solved by having the people involved to ride mules into the Grand Canyon. Putting trust in something other than yourself (Mules) and the humbling effects of the Canyon just put people in a place that "it's not about themselves and are able to see things in a new perspective." Rock On Mules and the Grand Canyon!


Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out. Would have been better if you had more closely followed your buddy Snyder out that door.

Signed, an employee with two unfortunate expereiences working under Martin's reign in thirteen years.


Disabled persons cannot ride the mules. Xanterra States:

"• Each Phantom Ranch overnight rider must not weigh more than 200 lbs. (91k), fully dressed
• Each rider must be in good physical condition. No rider may be pregnant. A mule trip is physically rigorous. Riding requires both upper and lower body strength and good overall muscular condition. Back and knee strain emerge after just a short time in the saddle. Riders with heart or respiratory problems should carefully consider the rigors they will encounter. "

Also, mule riders HAVE been rescued for injuries and heat exhaustion. Mules can't as a rule be used to rescue injured hikers: the rescuee has to be able to sit on the mule. If they are able to sit on the mule, they can probably walk.


Response to Marjorie:
I think you missed the reality here. Mule Riders sign a waiver and because the Ride IS such a big deal to many, both disabled or not. They willingly climb on a Mule and go down into the Canyon for the adventure of their lives. Several disabled riders I guided into the Canyon I remember. One in particular I remember was a double amputee that when we arrived at Phantom Ranch Laura and I put her in a wheel barrow to take her to her cabin that she shared with her son. It was a major test for her but that made it all the more important to her. When I described this adventure at the Kanab Stock Use meeting to Superintendent Steve Martin his only response was," you know, there is no wheelchair accessible ramp at Mather Point." He then retreated to the back of the room and gave the meeting over to someone else. Steve's Stock Use proposals need to be reversed. It's the right thing to do.
There are also scheduled "dragouts" and on the North Rim there ARE occasional rescues by Mule Wranglers working for Canyon Trail Rides.
The Canyon is a place for great adventures for hikers (I do a lot), riders and rafters. I believe that sharing the trails in good humor more illustrates what an awesome place it is.


It is apparent to everyone reading the comments, that martin will be remembered above all else for the mule ride issue.
Whatever side of the fence on may be on, on this issue, there is no questioning the obvious fact that Steve Martin in a partisan, biased against the mule ride, wanted to shut it down or at least diminish it, and used his power toward that end.
The mule ride that remains is merely a token, and what remains is there only because of the controversy that erupted over the issue.


If it's okay Kurt I have posted your great site on the Facebook/Grand Canyon Mule riders and Wrangler Appreciation site. Steve Martin and the Mules are front and center right now but the great majority of photos and postings are centered on the Canyon/Mules and what it means both historically, culturally and personally. I'd like to invite you and your readers to take a look.
Thanks,
Rich


Got a link, Rich?


What a good year for the Intermountion Region and Grand Canyon National Park first Mike Synder and now Steve Martin. It’s sad when I think of all the careers that these two men disrupted or destroyed. From my observation of Steve Martin he had an incredible sense of entitlement and an obsession to leave a legacy no matter what the collateral damage. The only mission he was concerned with was his, not the Mission of the Service.


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