Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: June 27, 1997

Contact: John Wright 202/208-6416

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt said today that President Clinton has made an excellent choice in the nomination of Robert G. Stanton to be the Director of the National Park Service (NPS). The nominee for NPS Director must be confirmed by the Senate.

“Bob understands the vital role the national parks play in preserving our heritage, and how much they mean to the millions of Americans that visit them each year,” said Babbitt. “His outstanding record of achievement demonstrates that he has the energy, commitment and leadership ability we need at this time in this very important agency of government.”

Stanton, 56, has more than three decades as an employee with the National Park Service, providing him with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the problems and challenges confronting the park system. Before retiring in January 1997, he served eight years as Regional Director of the National Capital Region (Washington DC) of the National Park Service.

Mr. Stanton’s interest in the NPS began in 1962, after President Kennedy’s distinguished Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall sent Interior Department representatives to speak at Huston-Tillotson College, a small Historically Black College in Austin Texas. Secretary Udall wanted to encourage young Black students to look beyond traditional careers and consider the National Park Service as a place of opportunity. The mental picture that the Interior representatives painted that day at Huston-Tillotson College, of the vast and magnificent vistas of the western parks touched a responsive chord with a young man sitting in the audience. That young man was Robert G. Stanton. Stanton heeded Udall’s call and set his sights on Grand Teton National Park. Thirty-five years later, and five months into his retirement from federal service, he has been selected by President Clinton to lead the National Park Service into the Twenty-First Century.

Stanton began his federal career as a seasonal park ranger at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, during the summers of 1962-63. He took a full-time position with NPS in 1966, as a personnel management and public information specialist, in the Washington DC office. In 1969, he moved to National Capital Parks-Central, Washington, DC, as a management assistant, and in 1970, became Superintendent of National Parks-East, Washington, DC and Maryland. A year later he was appointed Superintendent of Virgin Islands National Park, St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and in 1974, he became Deputy Regional Director of the Southeast Region in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1976, Stanton returned to Washington, DC as Assistant Director, Park Operations, and in 1978, he went on to become Deputy Regional Director for the National Capital Region, a position in which he held for eight years. In 1987, he returned to headquarters (main Interior) as Associate Director for Operations. In 1988, he became Regional Director of the National Capital Region, Washington, DC, where he served until his retirement in 1997.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Stanton earned a bachelor’s degree in 1963, from Huston-Tillotson College, Austin, Texas. He did graduate work at Boston University, Massachusetts, and George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Mr. Stanton and his wife Janet Moffatte of Columbia, SC reside in Fairfax, VA. They have a grown son and daughter.

Upon confirmation by the Senate, Stanton will become the 15th person to serve as Director of the National Park Service since the agency was established in August 1916. He will also become the first African American to ever head the 80 year-old agency.

The Director for the National Park Service has policy and administrative responsibility for 375 units in 49 states, the District of Columbia and five territories. The 80 million acre national park system is managed by 20,000 permanent and seasonal employees, and operates on an annual budget of about $1.6 billion.

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