More well-deserved kudos for Jack Potter, this time from the Missoulian . . .

Friends, colleagues and fellow conservationists call him the conscience of Glacier National Park, a fitting term of endearment for a somewhat unlikely candidate, particularly given Jack Potter’s humble beginnings.

He started his career with the National Park Service scraping dishes at a Many Glacier café and, having achieved the mantle of leadership over the next 41 years, helped shape some of the most influential resource protection policies of his time.

Vast expanses of wilderness remain rustic and undeveloped because of Potter’s influence, and his work has minimized the pressures of development along Glacier Park’s perimeter, preventing the park from becoming a “wilderness island” besieged by incompatible land uses.

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Today’s Daily Inter Lake joins the chorus of folks saying nice things about Jack Potter on the occasion of his retirement . . .

Some reporters over the years have affectionately called him “Jack Pot,” because Jack Potter is a treasure trove of information for anything related to Glacier National Park.

Any type of animal, any plant, any place, any trail, any aspect of the park, Potter pretty much knows it all after a 41-year career in the park that came to an end with his recent retirement. But it really won’t come to an end, because Potter and his wife, Rachel, intend to carry on with volunteer work in the park for years to come.

“I just wanted to do something different,” said Potter, who was the park’s chief of science and resource management. “I just wanted to go out at a time when I was still enthusiastic about the job and still making a contribution.”

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As mentioned earlier this month, Jack Potter, Glacier National Park’s Chief of Science and Resources Management, retired on May 2 after 41 years with the Park Service. Recently, Headwaters Montana posted a very nice article discussing Jack’s career and accomplishments . . .

On May 2 of this year, Jack Potter retired after 41 years with Glacier National Park, one of the few National Park Service employees to spend his entire professional career in one place.  To many of us on the ‘outside’ of Glacier’s internal operations, Jack has been the conscience of the bureaucracy for Glacier’s safekeeping.  The future challenges and threats facing Glacier are many and  Jack’s vigilance and integrity will be hard to replace.  It is fair to ask, “Who will be the next Jack Potter for Glacier?”

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Referenced in the above article was a lengthy Park Science profile published last March, shortly before Jack’s retirement . . .

Resource managers who stay in one national park for their entire career, building and refining their knowledge of the place, exercising judgment, sharing insights, and defending park values are a rare thing in the National Park Service. Thus, we explore the long-tenured career of Jack Potter in Glacier National Park, Montana, as a way to learn from his experience, help preserve institutional memory, and celebrate his special contribution to the National Park Service.

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Jack Potter retired last Monday after 41 years at Glacier National Park! A no doubt big retirement potluck is scheduled for May 13. See the following press release for details of Jack’s career, as well as information on the potluck.

After 41 years of service in Glacier National Park, Chief of Science and Resources Management, Jack Potter retired on May 2nd. A potluck gathering will be held to celebrate his retirement in the West Glacier Community Building on Friday, May 13th, at 4:30 p.m.

In the summer of 1969, 19 year old Jack Potter took the train from western Pennsylvania to Glacier National Park to work as a bus boy at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn Coffee Shop. The following summer he was hired on the park trail crew and over the next seven summers, he worked seasonally while studying political science at Colgate University and later forestry at University of Montana, becoming a trail crew leader in 1973. Following one summer away from the park, Potter started a permanent, subject-to-furlough position in 1978 as Hudson Bay District Trails Foreman. He was subsequently promoted to backcountry supervisor in 1984. In 1992, Potter took the position of Assistant Chief Ranger, supervising field resources. In 2003, he became assistant chief of the newly formed Science and Resources Management Division, and has served as the division chief since 2005.

Potter has received numerous awards including the Superior Service Award in 2007 from the Department of Interior and the National Park Service Intermountain Region Director’s Award in 2003 for Excellence in Natural Resource Management. Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright stated, “Jack Potter knows more about Glacier National Park than any person alive. He is the conscience of the park, and possesses an uncanny sense of what’s appropriate and what’s not. His passion for the job, and life in general, is infectious. Although I’ve never believed that any employee is irreplaceable, Jack Potter comes the closest of any person I’ve known. He will be sorely missed!”

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