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On Friday, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt appointed agency lawyer Ed Keable as superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park. The move is highly unusual, as Keable has no park management experience, yet will now be in charge of one of the nation's busiest and most complex parks.
"What in the world qualifies him to be a superintendent?" said Phil Francis, a former national park superintendent and chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. "In my experience, I have never known a person to be appointed to be a superintendent of a major park who didn't have significant National Park Service experience... This is extremely rare, and while I don't know this individual, on the face of it it seems improper."
Keable faces a host of hot button issues, including efforts to develop a major resort near the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The town of Tusayan, which was denied development permits in 2016 after National Park Service objections, hired Secretary Bernhardt's former firm to lobby Interior on the exact day he was sworn in. Since then, the town has paid $520,000 in lobbying fees to advance the project and recently resubmitted its development application.
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Americans deeply value our public lands and yet the administration has appointed a man to be in charge of them who does not believe public lands should exist”
