Yellowstone National Park’s Top Official, Facing Reassignment Under Trump, Is Denied Option to Retire on His Terms

Desdemona Despair

By Darryl Fears
7 June 2018

(The Washington Post) – The Trump administration issued a stern reply to Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Daniel Wenk’s offer to retire next year to avoid a reassignment to Washington: Leave your post by August or retire now.

As first reported by The Washington Post, Wenk submitted a letter to National Park Service brass announcing his retirement, offering to work until March at his office in Wyoming rather than move to the Park Service’s National Capital Region. After Monday’s reply, Wenk spoke out Thursday, saying he felt abused, according to the Mountain West News Bureau, which broke the story of the administration’s response.

“I certainly feel like this is punitive,” Wenk said Thursday in an interview with the Post after the news broke. “To not even have a phone call, the courtesy of having someone sit with me and say, ‘This is why we feel it’s important to have you [in Washington]; these are the things we need you to do.’ “

Park Service Director P. Daniel Smith issued the administration ultimatum in a formal letter. In a conversation with his direct supervisors about his offer to retire next year, Wenk said, “They told me that was not going to happen.” He recalled asking what would be a good time frame for him to retire from Yellowstone and being told it should be within two months. Wenk recalled his next question: “What if i’m still here?” And the reply:  “If you’re still there you won’t be superintendent.”

Wenk’s looming reassignment is one of several ordered by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to fulfill President Trump’s effort to reorganize the federal government. […]

At least eight other senior executives are being reassigned. Critics say many of the reassignments of Senior Executive Service employees appear to be motivated by politics, sweeping aside those who disagree with the administration on issues such as climate change, wildlife management, and wilderness preservation.

Wenk, a 43-year Park Service veteran, wanted time to complete several major projects, including the movement of bison in Yellowstone to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 400 miles away. Moving the animals is a sensitive issue for ranchers who believe they carry a disease called brucellosis that could spread to cattle. Although there’s no documented case of the illness being spread by bison, the fear persists among ranchers and farmers whom Zinke often champions in speeches.

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Yellowstone’s top official, facing reassignment under Trump, is denied option to retire on his terms