Saturday, March 25, 2006
Grand Canyon National Park's resource management chief will be Valles Caldera National Preserve's next executive director.
The preserve's board of trustees on Friday named Jeffrey Cross to fill the position that has been vacant since former executive director Ray Powell resigned in September.
Cross plans to be on the job by the end of April, if not before.
He is currently director of the Grand Canyon Science Center, the division that manages natural and cultural resources in the 1.2-million acre park. The science center is also responsible for backcountry recreation planning and environmental compliance.
Cross said the Valles Caldera's scenic beauty, natural and cultural resources and unique approach to land management appealed to him. That approach calls for continual scientific monitoring, which is used to adapt land management strategies best suited to preserve conditions.
"It's a new way of looking at public land management," Cross said by phone Friday. "I really support adaptive management."
The 89,000-acre preserve- formerly a private ranch in the Jemez Mountains- is in the dormant crater of a giant volcano and is known for its lush meadows, quality trout streams and abundant elk.
Congress bought the land in 2000 and mandated that it continue to operate as a working ranch, while offering public recreational opportunities.
Unlike most public lands, the preserve is operated by a presidentially appointed board of trustees and is required to become financially self-sufficient by 2015.
The preserve's board said Friday that Cross' well-rounded management experience, along with his familiarity with the Southwest, were factors that gave him the edge over 111 other applicants.
Cross-who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in zoology and a doctorate in fisheries- has been at Grand Canyon for six years. His work there included overseeing the development of the Colorado River Management Plan, a controversial recreational-use plan for the thousands of boaters who wind through Grand Canyon every year.
Prior to his time in Grand Canyon, Cross worked in fisheries resource management for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"We were looking for people who had the whole package," board member Larry Icerman said of Cross' credentials. "And that narrowed the field very quickly."
Cross will be the third person to hold the executive director's position since the preserve was created six years ago. The board declined to disclose Cross' new salary.
Former director Powell resigned in August after less than a year on the job. Powell said he decided to leave because he realized he liked to create and administer policy.
"Obviously, that is the role of the board in this administration," he said last year.
By John Arnold
Journal Staff Writer