Yosemite to get new director in shuffle

SAN FRANCISCO -- The acting director of the National Park Service was shuffled out of his job Wednesday, reassigned to head Yosemite National Park while being replaced with a retired parks official who was once accused of skirting the law but is believed to be sympathetic to President Trump's conservative direction for the park system.

Yosemite's new chief, Michael T. Reynolds, is a third-generation Park Service employee with a 31-year career that included a previous three-year stint at California's premier park and culminated with his promotion to the Park Service's top job last January after former director Jon Jarvis stepped down.

But as interim chief under Trump, Reynolds famously got on the president's bad side when the Park Service tweeted photos of the inauguration ceremony showing a crowd much smaller than the record-breaking numbers Trump alleged. The president reportedly phoned Reynolds on his first day in office and asked him to produce new pictures. Neither has commented publicly on the conversation.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that Reynolds will take over as superintendent of Yosemite in early March, while P. Daniel Smith will become acting director of the Park Service. Smith, who most recently worked as superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia, came out of retirement just two weeks ago when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke named him a deputy director.

In an earlier job as assistant to the parks director, Smith was reprimanded for using his influence to help Daniel Snyder, owner of Washington's NFL team, chop down more than 100 trees near his home to improve the view. A federal inspector general's report said Smith, in 2004, ignored federal environmental laws and pressured officials to sign off on the clear-cut.

Interior officials declined to discuss the new appointments, but Zinke released a statement praising Smith's record of leadership both in Washington and Virginia.

``I can think of no one better equipped to help lead our efforts to ensure that the National Park Service is on firm footing to preserve and protect the most spectacular places in the United States for future generations,'' Zinke said.

Critics, however, were quick to pan Zinke's pick as both unqualified and disgraced.

``This guy represents political back-scratching in a way that does not reflect the Park Service's finest moments,'' said Jeff Ruch, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in Washington, D.C. ``Zinke has disinterred a most disreputable operative.''

Reynolds' reassignment to Yosemite comes as his tenure as acting director bumps up against federal limits on how long interim heads can serve. A permanent Park Service director, which will require Senate approval, has yet to be named.

While Reynolds' move to Yosemite, one of the crown jewels of the Park Service, can hardly be viewed as a demotion, political observers say it's clearly an effort by his superiors to get him out of the way.

``It's a recognition that he's not a Trump guy,'' said Ruch. ``They've brought in somebody who they view as a political loyalist.''

The Interior Department under Trump has sought far-reaching changes that have often proved virulently unpopular, particularly in states such as California -- from seeking to expand offshore oil drilling to downsizing the country's national monuments to pushing for higher fees in national parks.

Over the past two weeks, 10 of the 12 members on an advisory board to the Park Service resigned in protest over the administration's direction, accusing leadership of cold-shouldering its mandate to preserve and protect public lands.

The board's counsel has not been sought during Trump's presidency.

``The National Park Service stands for conservation, and they appear to be cutting back on that,'' said Milton Chen, a resident and educational leader in San Francisco who quit the advisory panel. ``They're cutting back on the emphasis of stewardship, cutting back on the work of climate change, cutting back on education.''

A spokesman for the Interior Department said the agency welcomed the resignations.

Both Smith and Reynolds assume their new posts as the Park Service faces not only changes from above but several long-standing problems, from complaints of sexual harassment within the ranks to withering budgets and mounting maintenance backlogs said to exceed $11 billion.

Reynolds' appointment to Yosemite comes a little over a year after Don Neubacher stepped down amid allegations of harassment and bullying at the park. Neubacher was cleared of misconduct, but many say he left a hostile work environment.

Reynolds will face the challenge of building morale among Yosemite's nearly 800 full-time employees as well as the routine hardship of having too little money to address an increasing number of visitors.

Reynolds began working for the Park Service 31 years ago, and represents the third generation of his family to work for the agency. Before relocating to the Park Service's D.C. headquarters in 2014, where he first worked as a director of workforce and inclusion and then director of operations, Reynolds held management jobs in the Park Service's Midwest and Northeast regional offices.

His grandparents worked as concessions employees at Yosemite, and his father was a planner at the park. Reynolds spent much of his childhood there. Early in his career, he also worked as a resource manager, planner and division chief at the park.

Reynolds received his bachelor of arts degree at the UC Santa Barbara before getting his master's in business administration at Regis University in Denver.

On Wednesday, Reynolds declined a request from The Chronicle to speak about his new job.

In a prepared statement, Reynolds said: ``When I think about my family's history in Yosemite, this feels like coming home -- it's an incredible honor that I take very seriously.

''Times have changed since my grandparents served as 40-year concession employees in the park,`` he added. ''However, we should still provide world-class service and experience to visitors in ways that sustain Yosemite into the next century. My focus will be on that, and on supporting our employees, repairing infrastructure and working closely with the communities and people around and associated with the park.``