BILLINGS — Yellowstone National Park’s superintendent said Thursday he’s being forced out as a “punitive action” following disagreements with the Trump administration over how many bison the park can sustain, a longstanding source of conflict between park officials and ranchers in neighboring Montana.
Superintendent Dan Wenk last week announced he intended to retire March 30, 2019, after being offered a transfer he didn’t want to take.
Wenk said he was informed this week by National Park Service Acting Director Paul “Dan” Smith that a new superintendent will be in place in August and that Wenk will be gone by then.
“I feel this is a punitive action, but I don’t know for sure,” Wenk told The Associated Press. He wasn’t given a reason and said the only dispute he’s had with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees the park service, was over bison.
Ranchers in neighboring Montana have long sought reductions in Yellowstone’s bison numbers because of worries that they could spread the disease brucellosis to cattle and compete with livestock for grazing space outside the park. Brucellosis causes animals to prematurely abort their young and can be transmitted through birthing material. It also can infect people.
Park biologists contend the current population of more than 4,000 bison is sustainable. But Zinke and his staff have said the number is too high, Wenk said, and raised concerns that areas such as Yellowstone’s scenic Lamar Valley are being overgrazed.
Zinke is a former Montana congressman. His close attention to projects back home has stirred speculation Zinke has future political ambitions in the state.
Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift declined to comment directly on Wenk’s assertions or the issue of bison management. She referred the AP to a previously issued statement that said President Donald Trump had ordered a reorganization of the federal government and that Zinke “has been absolutely out front on that issue.”
Wenk said he’d had multiple conversations with Zinke and his staff about bison, most recently this week.
“We’re not a livestock operation. We’re managing a national park with natural systems,” he said. “We do not believe the bison population level is too high or that any scientific studies would substantiate that.”
Wenk spent more than four decades with the National Park Service and seven years in Yellowstone. When he first announced his retirement, he said he didn’t view his proposed transfer to the National Capital Region as political.
Yellowstone straddles the borders of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho and was established in the 1872 as the first national park.
Last year, members of the park’s maintenance department were disciplined after an investigation found female employees were subjected to sexual harassment and other problems.
The scandal echoed problems that surfaced in recent years in other national parks and in some instances prompted personnel changes. But Wenk said that was never brought up in the discussions about his possible transfer or retirement.
National Park Service Midwest Region director Cam Sholly will be installed as the new superintendent, Wenk said. Sholly is a Gulf War veteran and former member of the California Highway Patrol who previously served as chief ranger at Yosemite National Park.
The head of the Park Service under President Barack Obama, Jonathan Jarvis, described Sholly as a strong leader and good choice to replace Wenk. But Jarvis also said Zinke and his team would have an expectation of loyalty from Sholly that they couldn’t get from someone such as Wenk, who already was in the position when Trump took office.
“Not that I expect Cam to get pushed around too much, but they are putting their own people in to a degree,” Jarvis said.