Yosemite chief resigns in wake of allegations
The head of Yosemite National Park has resigned, a week after a heated congressional oversight hearing into allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and other misconduct at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and other national parks.
Superintendent Don Neubacher, who had led Yosemite for seven years, said Wednesday that he would step down in the wake of allegations from 20 employees. Yosemite officials revealed the move Thursday while offering little explanation.
“I regret leaving at this time, but want to do
what’s best for Yosemite National Park,” Neubacher, whose resignation is effective Nov. 1, said in a statement. “It is an iconic area that is world renowned and deserves special attention.”
Park Service spokesman Andrew Muñoz said investigators looking into the staff allegations at Yosemite persuaded the Park Service that it “did need to make a change in leadership at the park.”
Last week, after taking testimony on the situation at Yosemite and the other parks, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called for a change at Yosemite.
“Of the 21 people the investigators interviewed, every single one of them, with one exception, described Yosemite as a hostile work environment as a result of the behavior and conduct of the park’s superintendent,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. “Why isn’t there immediate relief ?”
Chaffetz said ignoring complaints from women seemed to be a “longstanding pattern” at the park.
During the hearing, the chief of fire management at the park, Kelly Martin, told the committee that she and others had been subjected to hostility and discrimination against women — and that she had been the victim of a Peeping Tom incident by a park ranger while working at Grand Canyon National Park in 1987.
She said the Park Service discouraged female park rangers and other employees from coming forward with complaints.
“In Yosemite National Park today, dozens of people — the majority of whom are women — are being bullied, belittled, disenfranchised and marginalized from their roles as dedicated professionals,’’ Martin testified. “You are likely to find accounts of women (and men) being publicly humiliated by the superintendent, intimidated in front of colleagues, and having their professional credibility and integrity minimized or questioned.”
The committee heard similar complaints from rangers and staff at Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.
After the hearing, Neubacher sent an apology email to park employes, referring to “serious staff concerns related to Yosemite’s workplace environment.”
Spokesman Muñoz said Park Service staff began looking into complaints at Yosemite in July. A month later, the investigation was turned over to the inspector general of the Department of the Interior.
Neubacher, 63, a native of Vallejo, served as superintendent at Point Reyes National Seashore from 1995 until his appointment to the Yosemite post in 2010. At Point Reyes, he was known for his opposition to a renewal of the lease for an oyster farm on Drakes Bay and for his program to control non-native deer.
He will be on paid leave until his official departure Nov. 1, Muñoz said. The current superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Woody Smeck, will serve as temporary superintendent at Yosemite for four months.