ANPR President Scot McElveen's Remarks at Ranger Rendezvous 31
Dec. 11, 2008, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Year in Review

Good morning. Many of you know me, but for those I've not had the pleasure to meet my name is Scot McElveen and I am the president of the Association of National Park Rangers. Welcome to Santa Fe and the historic La Fonda Hotel.

Let's begin by giving ourselves as an organization a round of applause for sustaining ANPR in difficult times during the last decade. We've faced issues such as the sanctioned removal of rare NPS resources, outsourcing of NPS positions, a hostile NPS Management Policies revision, and NPS regulatory changes that weaken the agency's ability to meet its statutorily mandated fundamental purpose. I believe that ANPR has made or is making a positive difference for the NPS and the National Park System on three of the four of these issues. While there is always room for improvement in ANPR's performance, I am going to talk about some reasons why I believe you should be proud of your ANPR.

First, I'd like to acknowledge the passing of former NPS Directors George Hartzog and Russ Dickenson. Both men had considerable impact on our NPS lives, and both had personnel connections to ANPR. I specifically remember Director Hartzog at Ranger Rendezvous 13 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, speaking to us formally and socializing with us informally. He remained an ANPR member until his death earlier this year. We should be proud of a professional organization that such legendary figures respected.

Would all of you who have retired from the NPS since we last met in Park City in 2007 please stand? And, now all who have retired from the NPS prior to that please stand. Let's give recognition to those who have provided so much to the NPS and the National Park System, and continue to do so through ANPR among other avenues.

On Dec. 13, 2007, NPS Deputy Director Dan Wenk and I met in his Washington office at Main Interior. I discussed four items with him of concern to ANPR:

1. ANPR's health insurance program
2. NPS recognition of Ranger Rendezvous as a professional conference available for expenditure of government travel funds and attendance on government time
3. An ANPR/NPS collaboration to provide NPS-sanctioned training
4. ANPR efforts to increase diversity through college chapters that may have the potential to increase the diversity of applicants for NPS jobs

With regard to ANPR's health insurance program, we asked the NPS to review and approve ANPR's e-mail flyer and then send it to every NPS employee on their rolls. They declined to distribute it in this manner. They did agree to distribute it to each regional office with instructions that WASO had approved the flyer's distribution in new employee information packets in 2008, and each regional office was encouraged, but not required, to distribute the flyer to their individual parks with distribution approval. Each park was to be directed to decide for themselves whether to distribute it or not.

As we discussed NPS recognition of Ranger Rendezvous as a professional conference Dan asked a profound question; has ANPR ever asked its members why they aren't sending their NPS employees to Ranger Rendezvous on government time and travel? So, now I'm asking you that question. During my days as an NPS supervisor I certainly sent some of my subordinates to Rendezvous on government time and travel. Others such as Barbara Goodman and Barry Sullivan have done so too. If you've been unwilling to do that, why not? Send me your answers via e-mail or through our website. It really is a supervisory decision. There seems to be some unwritten perception that it is okay to send employees to other conferences such as the NAI conference or the George Wright Society conference, but that it isn't okay to send employees to Ranger Rendezvous. The National Park Service is an official co-sponsor of both the previously mentioned conferences and has the official arrowhead symbol prominently displayed on these organizations' websites. What are we doing…….or not doing that keeps the NPS from giving us the same professional organization recognition? We'll continue to pursue that answer in 2009.

In the 2006 OPM survey of federal agencies the NPS ranked near the bottom (209/223) in employee satisfaction with the training courses offered and available for their attendance. In ANPR's 2007 survey of NPS employees we were told that "providing professional development training" was among the highest-rated reasons that the respondents said would encourage them to join a NPS advocacy and support organization (like ANPR). In light of these responses ANPR identified two training courses to be offered at Ranger Rendezvous and performed the necessary logistical requirements to have them announced through official NPS communications. The courses chosen were Introduction to Resource Stewardship (20 hours) and Situational Leadership (16 hours). Both courses were approved by the NPS as official training, and Introduction to Resource Stewardship was in fact an NPS course organized out of Albright Training Center that would have been taught as a collaboration between ANPR and the NPS. It seems, however, that we either picked the wrong courses, or the wrong dates, or the wrong location. We had to cancel both classes for lack of enough registrants. We will try again in 2009 to come up with training that can be offered in conjunction with Ranger Rendezvous in Gettysburg, perhaps with a cultural resource theme.

We have one ANPR college chapter that has just formed at Hocking College in Ohio, and I believe that we'll have a second chapter started at the University of Tennessee in January. College chapters of ANPR are not just something that ANPR board members can start or mentor. I ask all ANPR members to consider helping students at your local university, college or community college form an ANPR chapter. Information on how and what benefits students might gain can be found on ANPR's website. We would be especially interested in forming chapters at schools that have diverse student bodies that would hopefully translate into a more diverse ANPR and NPS.

In April 2009 we asked ANPR Secretary Emily Weisner to attend the conference of the National Council on Public History in Louisville, Kentucky. Our attempt was to try to increase ANPR memberships in those who are employed in history disciplines, and in turn some of our members might be interested in joining their organization. We are always looking for pools of potential new members.

ANPR's board member for fund raising activities resigned early in 2008 citing time conflicts between her NPS job and ANPR volunteer requirements. Although I offered a temporary appointment to several members, none accepted. Given our budget standing, which I'll speak more about later, this is a critical board position and we need strong candidates to fill it in 2009. I have located a nonprofit fund raiser that is willing to help us get started, and once we are successful getting some initial "capacity building" grants he may even be willing to do more, but first we need some members to step up and get us moving forward.

Much of my 2008 as your president has been consumed with the "guns in parks" issue. In conjunction with the National Parks Conservation Association, the Coalition of NPS Retirees, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police and others we have issued three joint press releases and one joint letter to the NPS director, and I gave approximately 30 interviews to print media and radio stations from coast to coast. In January ANPR adopted an official position on the "guns in parks" issue. In June ANPR submitted 10 pages of comments in opposition to the proposed concealed weapons regulation that was published in the Federal Register. Unfortunately, the proposed regulation was modified to make it even worse for parks and is to be made effective on Jan. 9, 2009, but there is a strong possibility that some legal action will commence early in 2009 in an attempt to halt this potentially harmful regulation. Your board of directors has agreed to be a party to such action under certain parameters.

Another large undertaking this year was the planning necessary to offer a professional Ranger Rendezvous in Santa Fe. I'd like to recognize many of the folks who made this possible:

• Rendezvous Site Coordinator & Hotel Contract: Dan Moses
• Program Coordinator: Scot McElveen
• Ranger Rendezvous XXXI logo: Judy & Jeni Chetwin
• Onsite Support: Mike Pflaum
• Registration: Meg Weesner
• Exhibitor Coordination: Warren Bielenberg, Rick Jones & Chip Davis
• Regular Raffle: Rosie White
• Merchandise Sales: Stacy Allen & John Ott
• Rendezvous 31 shirts: Cindy Ott-Jones
• Pecos NHP Tours: Christine Beekman & PECO staff
• Hospitality Suite: Nancy Ward
• Photographer: Teresa Ford
• Photo Contest Coordinators: Liz Roberts & Tony Bonanno
• Judge: Cindy Purcell
• Agenda Preparation: Teresa Ford, Meg Weesner & Scot McElveen
• Individual Speaker contacts and follow through: Dan Moses, Mike Anderson, Gregg Fauth, Bill Halainen, Bill Wade, Pat Grediagin, and John & Florence Six Townsend

There's other good news for ANPR, and it is on the membership front. At Rendezvous 30 in Park City last October I made the statement, "Wouldn't it be great if when we meet in Santa Fe ANPR has 1,200 members?" Just after Rendezvous 30, on Oct. 15, 2007, ANPR had 1,054 members. I'm proud to announce to you that as of today ANPR has 1,208 members. Much of the credit for this upsurge in membership goes to you for recruiting members when you have the time on an individual basis. We also are still accruing the higher membership benefits of Fred Koegler's work in reinventing ANPR's health insurance program. And, Teresa Ford's highly professional work in customer service as ANPR's membership services contractor has also been a big factor in keeping current members satisfied and informed thereby reducing the number of members lost. Give both Fred and Teresa a hand for their work on ANPR's behalf.

A month or so ago I was seriously worried about our finances for this year. Seven out of the last eight years ANPR has spent more money than it has taken in. At the end of ANPR's fiscal year 1999 we had a total funds value of $361,000. At the end of ANPR's fiscal year 2007 we had a total funds value of $45,000. You can see that's a tremendous loss and we cannot continue to sustain annual operating losses. But I'm happy to say that it now appears ANPR will be in the black for fiscal year 2008 perhaps in the $10,000 range, or perhaps higher depending on how successful this Rendezvous is. The higher membership numbers I spoke of earlier are an important factor in our financial resurgence. Some of the money we've lost over the last decade was the nest egg of dues and century-level donations paid by our 500 life members. Even though that money is gone we still have those members to service. So, more new annual members and better attendance at Rendezvous means we don't have to dip further into our dwindling reserves to serve our members, and it allows us to start to build that nest egg back to support our members for decades to come. Thank you for your support with dues, donations and attendance at Ranger Rendezvous.

As another piece of this better financial year I also have to recognize Teresa Ford's efforts in proposing and then crafting this year's Fall Fund Campaign. As many of you know for the last 20 years we've held an annual Super Raffle to raise funds, but this year we did not have a volunteer willing to organize and run this program. During some of our highest years in the 1990s Super Raffle netted us $10,000-$12,000, but more recently it has been in the $3,000-$5,000 range. To replace the funds we normally take in from Super Raffle Teresa put together an attractive and well-worded message requesting members to donate to ANPR for our ongoing advocacy and operational efforts. To date we are more than $6,000 in this campaign, already more than we would have probably netted from Super Raffle. So let's give a hand to Teresa for her idea and follow-through and to our fellow members for their generosity.

I'd like to recognize the three recipients of this year's William R. Supernaugh Jr. Memorial Scholarships: Jennifer Champange, Allison Herrmann and Clarisa Flores. The William R. Supernaugh Jr. Memorial Scholarships were established following the untimely passing of our friend Bill Supernaugh in 2006. Bill really enjoyed coming to Ranger Rendezvous and socializing with old friends and new. The scholarships pay for lodging and registration at Rendezvous for the selectees and up to $500 in transportation costs to get them here. It's for ANPR members or NPS employees who have never been to a Ranger Rendezvous, and the scholarships are completely funded by your donations. We had 21 applicants this year and a panel of four board of directors' members made the selections.

Thank you, ladies, for coming this year, and I'd encourage all of you in the audience and all who will read these remarks to consider donating to this worthy cause so we can continue it at the 2009 Ranger Rendezvous. It allows Bill to be with us again in spirit every year, and it strengthens ANPR!

Switching gears a little, ANPR produced quality Ranger magazines again in 2009 thanks to Teresa Ford (our editor), Mark Herberger (themes, authors and subject matter clarifications), Ken Mabery (editorial assistance) and all the contributors of individual articles, columns, letters and more. Let's give Teresa and all those who contributed to this year's magazine issues a hand. My request to Teresa, Mark and Ken was to come up with themes that would spark some dialogue within the membership, perhaps even create some controversy and get us stirred up - issues that have more than one side to them even within the NPS and ANPR. I think we were moderately successful in 2008 in this endeavor with Ranger issues on Full Implementation of Ranger Careers and on the State of NPS Training Programs. But we'd always like to hear more from you on these issues in the form of "Letters to the Editor" to be published in subsequent Ranger magazines. We also had our first full, glossy, color cover with the Fall 2008 issue of Ranger. As you know our theme at Ranger Rendezvous 31 is "Being Green Means More Than Wearing Green." In the spirit of that theme I'd ask you to consider receiving your Ranger magazines in 2009 electronically. It reduces the amount of paper used and the energy necessary to print and transport it to your mailbox. It would also save ANPR money that can be reallocated to advocacy or operational issues. If getting Ranger electronically fits your lifestyle, please notify Teresa or me to send it to you only in that format.

Speaking of that "green" theme for this Rendezvous, please let me thank La Fonda Hotel for their efforts with recycling and fluorescent bulbs to reduce our carbon footprint here in Santa Fe. And, I'd especially like to thank the American Park Network and Mark Saferstein (publisher & editor-in-chief, as well as an ANPR member) for their donation of one tree planted by the National Forest Foundation for every registered attendee at Ranger Rendezvous 31. Let's give them a round of applause! I'd also direct you to look on your agenda for several green topic speakers we have this week, so you can take that information back to your parks and implement it.

I've talked about ANPR's year of 2008. I'd now like to talk about topics for 2009 and beyond. Early in 2009 we hope to have a scorecard up on the website to show how well ANPR matched up in 2008 to the Strategic Plan goals that were last identified in 2005. In addition, in our board of directors' meeting yesterday we made revisions to those 2005 strategic goals, and we added some annual work objectives to this plan for 2009. We also expect to have the 2009 Strategic Plan up on the website early in the year.

Last year in Park City, past president Rick Gale asked me to form a committee to study a possible board of directors' reorganization that might add regional representatives back to the board. Another idea of my own is to break out the board member for professional services currently occupied by Mike Anderson into possibly five board positions, one each for the five major disciplines in the NPS (administration and management, interpretation, maintenance, resources management and science, and protection). Both of these ideas have the potential to increase membership and discipline diversity within ANPR, but I was not able to find volunteers to study these ideas and bring forth a recommendation to the board in 2008. If you're looking for somewhere to help ANPR make progress, here is an opportunity waiting.

Next year we meet Dec. 6-10 in Gettysburg, Pa., for Ranger Rendezvous 32. We have a very good room rate negotiated at the Wyndham Hotel of $85 per night. I'm pleased to tell you that we have four members who have volunteered to serve as the program coordinators for this event. They are not quite ready for me to publicly announce their names today, but I will be doing so later this week here in Santa Fe. (Bill Halainen, Maureen Finnerty, Tony Sisto and Amy Gilbert were announced as 2009 Ranger Rendezvous program coordinators later in the week.) Gettysburg will be an exciting location for a Rendezvous, and I encourage all of you to keep up with the agenda as it develops and is posted on the website, and make hotel reservations early so that we can negotiate for more rooms and adequately plan activities for you.

We've not yet signed a contract with any property for the 2010 Rendezvous. We are studying one proposal from the Tenaya Lodge just outside the Fish Camp Entrance to Yosemite National Park. Transportation costs into the Fresno Airport are one concern. Another is the room rate they've proposed. So let me ask you, how many of you would attend a Rendezvous at the Tenaya Lodge in early December if the rooms were $119 per night? Okay, keep your hands up. Now, how many more of you would come if we could get the rate negotiated down to $99 per night? This is just one proposal and we'll consider others, too, before we sign any contract.

We have elections upcoming early in 2009, and we will begin to take nominations for five board of directors' positions on Sunday. There are four positions open for a full three-year term (2009 - 2011), and they are Education and Training, Internal Communications, Strategic Planning and Treasurer. There is one position open to fill a vacancy for one year (2009), and that position is Fund Raising Activities. If you want to see ANPR grow and prosper there is little you could do that would be more organizationally valuable than serving on your board of directors and offering your ideas and energy to bring them to fruition. I hope you'll consider being nominated on Sunday. If you have questions about specific board positions, please see me or one of the other board members.

Finally, I'd like to ask you the same question that Rick Gale asked ANPR members in 1988, the first year of his presidency, and that is - "Who is going to do the work of ANPR?" For a decade now ANPR has been ripe for a "hostile takeover" by a new generation of NPS employees and ANPR members. Where are this generation's leaders? Are you interested in perpetuating the good work and social enrichment ANPR has accomplished for NPS employees and the National Park System - expanding on it and making it fit the needs of today's employees and today's parks? It is has always been my perception that ANPR goes wherever the ACTIVE members take it. So, now it is your turn - step up, be an ANPR active member and leader, and help take ANPR to where you think it should be.

Thank you for your confidence in me in 2008, and now I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you may have.

To send comments to Scot McElveen regarding his Rendezvous remarks: ANPRScotM@aol.com