Director of the U.S. National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis will pay a visit to Mississippi State University today.
Jarvis made plans to visit MSU after speaking with his friend, fraternity brother and fellow alumnus of William and Mary College, Walter Diehl.
Diehl, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the idea to bring the NPS director to MSU began as soon as he found out about Jarvis’s title.
“When I was told several years ago he (Jarvis) had been named director of the National Park Service, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get him on campus,” Diehl said. “We talked about it and finally scheduled a time.”
Jarvis will hold two presentations⎯one at 2 p.m. in Thompson Hall for students interested in pursuing a career with the NPS and one at 6 p.m. in McCool Hall for the general public.
His 6 p.m. seminar titled “National Parks and American Values: A Field Guide” will analyze many of the national parks and how each can serve as a metaphor for an American value, according to Diehl.
Jarvis has worked with the NPS since 1976, advancing through the ranks to his current position.
George Hopper, dean of the College of Forest Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said he attributes Jarvis’s growth through the NPS as a major factor that will inspire his audience.
“He’s been with the park services for 36 years. From ranger, to resource management specialist, to park biologist, to superintendent, to director for three years, it’s quite an honor to have him share some of his experiences with us,” he said. “The directors of any of our federal agencies are always highly successful individuals.”
Diehl said Jarvis’s overwhelming responsibility as director of a $3 billion federal agency is the main reason people will be interested in attending his presentation.
“There are about 400 properties in the national park system; we have over 275 million people visit our national park system every year. He’s the guy that’s in charge of all that,” he said. “Anyone who appreciates our national, state or local park system would be interested in hearing what he has to say because we have a phenomenal park system. A lot of countries have national park systems, but I don’t think there’s another as extensive as ours is.”
Before Jarvis speaks at MSU, he will travel to Tupelo to visit headquarters of the Natchez Trace Parkway, where he will speak to the staff there.
Marty Owens, executive assistant to the superintendent at the Natchez Trace Parkway, said their team is excited and honored to receive a visit from the director of the NPS.
“It’s basically to us like the president of the United States is coming to see us, and that’s because he drives the mission of the parkway. He’s someone we respect, and we listen to what he says because what he says is very knowledgeable and informative about protecting our resources,” she said. “To actually have this man here who puts your mission into place when you go to work everyday, it’s an honor.”
Owens also said the public should be interested in what Jarvis has to say in his presentations because his task is relevant to everyone.
“What we’re talking about preserving and conserving is their property. It belongs to the American people,” she said. “How we do it plus what they can do is very important. I hope that when he goes to speak to the students that he puts a spark in there that maybe makes them want to come in and say, ‘How can I serve my country?'”
Jarvis’s 6 p.m. presentation for the general public will be held in the first-floor Rogers Auditorium of McCool Hall. Attendance is free to all.